The One Time Forgot
by Kelly Frock
Summary: <html><head></head>Before there was Rose, there was Isabelle. After many adventures, the Doctor left her and forgot her entirely. But how? She continued to follow him for years hoping, one day, he would remember her. Includes snippets of Ten and Eleven, eventually ending with Twelve.</html>
1. The Lady, In The Garden, With A Bat

**Chapter 1 - The Lady, In The Garden, With A Bat**

The air was cold when a woman walked towards a brick house lining the lane with others that looked similar. Her breath was visible in the glow of the street lamps as she came to the door. A redeye flew overhead particularly low ready to land in the north part of the sky. She put the key into the lock. The lady looked up at the night sky at the twinkling little dots and smiled. That night, there was a quarter moon. A yawn escaped her as she turned the key.

Locking the door behind her, she flicked a switch to illuminate the foyer and part the living room. A life of posters of extraterrestrial beings and spaceships danced across her walls. There was a map of the United Kingdom marked with red dots. She placed her keys in a dish that looked remarkably like a flying saucer. A crocheted pillow of the head of a Grey alien sat in the corner of a faded pink brocade chair. Science and alien magazines were scattered over the top of a coffee table in front of a dark blue couch. She absentmindedly hung her coat on a rack by the door.

As she walked up the stairs to her bedroom, she took out her earrings. At the top of the steps there was a switch that she clicked off to extinguish the lights downstairs. In her bedroom on the right, there was a canopy bed with heavy red curtains. Old portraits hung on the golden yellow walls like a museum. A tapestry with a red and gold background had an image of a castle within a circle. It hung between the two windows that faced the back garden. Against the closest wall, a maple wardrobe stood sentinel and a matching dresser beside it. Opening the door to the wardrobe, she slipped off her court shoes to stow them. Then she slipped out of her office attire and into a set of pyjamas. She sighed heavily. As she brushed her teeth, she turned down her bed and drew her window curtains closed. A few moments later she was tucked in and pulled the toggle on the lamp.

The night was still and quiet on that frosty night. She closed her eyes. There was the sound of the tick-tock of a mantle clock that sat on top of the wardrobe. The woman began to drift off to sleep. She was just about to fall into complete slumber when there was a strange whooshing groan sort of sound echoing outside from the back garden. It was an eerie sound. Immediately she went to her window to peer out. A big blue box with a small white light on top had appeared towards the rear garden wall. The woman quickly went to her wardrobe to slip on a pair of trainers, then retrieved a cricket bat from beside her bed. All the lights in her house were off and they remained that way as she descended the stairs with the bat raised over her shoulder. After she hastily donned on her coat, she cautiously made her way through the kitchen to the door leading out into the garden. She took a deep breath before opening it.

There it stood, a big blue box with the words "Police Public Call Box" over the door. It looked nearly brand new, just needed a wash down. The door opened. Swiftly, she hid behind a large tree in the middle of the garden keeping her back to it.

"This is not Mars," a male voice said with a northern accent as he stepped out of the box, then stopped. Her brow furrowed as she mouthed the word 'Mars.' "Ooh, new voice. At least it's not gravelly like the last one." Footsteps coming closer to the tree. The woman held her breath as he walked passed the tree without noticing her.

Turning defensive, she took it upon herself to get the upper hand on her intruder. She rushed up behind him and clocked the man on the back of the head with her bat. Her swing was enough to knock him out but not to kill him. He collapsed to the ground with a moan.

About half an hour later the man began to stir. The woman stood there with the cricket bat still over her shoulder ready to swing if there be a need. His eyes flickered open. He tried to move but noticed he was tied to a tree. The man struggled for a bit but it was of no use. He looked around and met her gaze.

"Oh, hello," he said. "Uh, could you untie me?"

"No," the woman said bluntly tightening her grip on the bat. "What are you doing in my garden?"

"Landing," the gent said.

"Landing what?" she questioned.

"That big blue box over there," he answered.

"I don't see a crane or a truck," she observed.

"I flew it in."

"Flew? It's not a ruddy plane. It's a wooden box. You can't fly that thing," she said. She was getting irritated. "Who are you then?"

"Oh, yeah. I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm the Doctor," he said. "I'd offer you my hand to shake but it's tied against the tree."

"Doctor who? You gotta last name?"

"Nope. Just the Doctor."

"I see," she said as she narrowed her eyes. "Don't want to tell me your name because then I won't have anything to tell the police when I call them."

"You haven't, have you?" he asked nervously.

"No."

"Oh, good. Right. I take it you're the one who tied me to the tree given your defensive nature. Now, how about untying me, please?"

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you are doing here. And how did you get that box into my garden without a truck?" she said frantically.

"You know who I am. I told you, I'm the Doctor. I came here because I was drawn here. I came in that box. Did you go into the box?"

"No, it's locked."

"Ah, but you tried. The key is in the inside pocket of my jacket. Go on," he said urging her to retrieve the key.

"I'm not getting the key. You might bite my ear off or something."

"Blimey, you do have an imagination, don't you?" She didn't answer and just stared at him with frightened eyes. He looked at her as if he was reading her like a book. He softened his face to one of kindness. "Look, you have nothing to fear. I won't hurt you. What's your name?"

She hesitated for a moment as she stared into his eyes. They were big and blue. His hair was dark and cut extremely short. The Doctor's build was thin but muscular. A small smile tried to creep across her lips, she quickly shook her head. The smile faded. She eyed his jacket, then she looked in his eyes again. He was smiling sweetly.

"My name is Isabelle," she finally answered.

"Well, Isabelle, do you have a last name?" he asked.

She scrutinized him for a moment. "No last name unless you give me yours, Doctor, whoever you are."

"I told you, I'm just the Doctor. I don't have a last name."

"Everyone has a last name."

"Not where I'm from."

"And where are you from?" she asked.

"Gallifrey."

"Is that an island in Scotland?"

"Ha!" he laughed.

"Oi! Just because I'm not proficient in geography doesn't mean you need to laugh about it."

"Gallifrey is not in Scotland. It's a planet."

Isabelle stood up straight and rigid.

"Did you just say planet?" Isabelle pondered this new information. She pointed the bat at him as she said, "Now, I know you are just playing with me. I'm calling the police." She started to walk backwards towards the house not wanting to put her back towards him.

"No! Wait!" the Doctor yelled. "Please, don't phone them. Just get the key and look in the box."

Isabelle clenched her jaw then released it. She glared at him with uncertainty. Slowly, she moved back towards him. He sighed and started to smile again. She held the bat out in front of her until the tip of it rested on the centre of his chest. His smile faded.

"Don't try any funny stuff or I'll clock you again," she said. His Adam's apple rose and fell as he swallowed hard.

The Doctor nodded. Carefully, she knelt down and reached into his pocket to dig out the key. It took her a moment. She grasped it quickly and withdrew her hand. A small silvery key sat in her palm.

"The bat wasn't necessary," he whispered to her. She shivered.

"Wasn't it? You didn't do anything funny, did you?" she said as she stood up. Backing away from him, she made her way to the blue box.

She kept looking over her shoulder at him as she approached the box. He sat there looking around. Finally, she directed her attention to inserting the key into the door.

"Why are you so keen for me to look in the box?" she asked before turning the key.

"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised," he replied.

"If this is some sort of prank, I'm going to beat the snot out of you to send a message to whomever sent you. I'm all for a gags but when it comes to my love of outer space, you've stepped over the line, Mister" she said agitatedly. With the key pinched in her fingertips, she hesitated. The Doctor perked at her words.

"Well, this just became more interesting," he muttered but she couldn't hear him. "And it's Doctor!" he shouted.

"Whatever," she returned.

With a great big sigh, Isabelle turned the key and opened the door. She flinched, but nothing happened. Instead, there was a vast room within the small box. Her mouth fell open in awe. She stepped inside and put her hands out in front of her. When her hands did not hit anything but air, she lowered them and stepped back out of the blue box. She closed the door behind her and stared at the box. Then, slowly, a grin stretched across her face.

"You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed as she turned around on the spot.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Isabelle ran towards the tree and stood in front of him wearing a large grin. He looked pleased to see her smiling. After laying the bat on the ground, she was straddling his legs, touching him all over.

"What are you doing?" he asked anxiously.

"Looking for something," she said. "Aha!"

She reached into the jacket pocket to produce a long metal object.

"Metal? Usually they're made of wood," she said, then shrugged. "Can I have a go?"

He looked at her perplexed and the scrunched up his face. "No. You could, if you knew how."

"Oh, I know how! They don't work as well for other people as they do for their owners," Isabelle said as she stood up. She pointed the long metal object in front of her.

"True," he responded but appeared to be uncertain about her.

"You didn't come through the chimney. So you must have . . . but that must have been tremendously difficult with the big blue box," she rambled pacing about and swinging the metal object around as she surmised how he got there.

"It's called the TARDIS," the Doctor said. He eyed the long metal object with unease as she swirled it around.

"TARDIS?" she questioned. "But that was never mentioned. It's true, isn't it?" Her eyes were bright and twinkling with childlike wonder as she returned his gaze. "The TARDIS has an extension charm on it, doesn't it?" she surmised grinning from ear to ear.

"A what?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, come on! Everything points to it! The larger on the inside TARDIS. The wand. You popping out of no where! You're a wizard! It's true. It's all true!" she said clapping her hands together and bouncing on the balls of her toes in front of him excitedly. She stopped suddenly and knelt down beside him putting her face precariously close to his. "Take me to it!" she said in a exuberant whisper.

"Take you to what?" he asked nervously.

"The castle!" she said gleefully knowing he was stalling.

"What castle?"

"Hogwarts!"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I know! I'm not suppose to know about it, but it's all there in the books," Isabelle started rambling again as she stood up shifting back and forth on her feet. "Muggles aren't suppose to know. I think it is one of those things, if you don't want someone to know about it, you hide it in plain sight. But everything about you points to it being true, so it has to be. The extension charm, the wand, the . . . ." she trailed off seeing the expression on his face. She could see vacancy in his eyes. "But you must know about it. There are two movies and five books about it, going to be seven. It's all over the news and internet. Are you telling me you have never heard of Harry Potter?"

"I haven't."

"So, you're not a wizard?"

"Nope."

Isabelle stood still in front of him and allowed her shoulders to sag. She stared at him in bewilderment. Her brow gradually furrowed into anger. Slowly, after pocketing the metal wand, she reached down to pick up her cricket bat again.

"Then, who the hell are you?" she asked again raising her bat above her shoulder.

"For the last time, I'm the Doctor," he said deliberately. "Isabelle, please lower the weapon. I could explain so much more if you would just untie me."

"No, because, if you're not a wizard, you flew in that," she said pointing her bat at the TARDIS, "and you mentioned a planet, then, you must be, what, really an alien?"

Her face contorted into a silly expression that conveyed both uncertainty and positive awareness.

"Yes!" he said grinning.

"Aliens usually want to take over the world and kill off the human race," she said taking a step away from him.

"You watch too many movies," the Doctor said rolling his eyes.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" she asked severely. She gripped the bat tightly.

"I don't know why I'm here, yet. I don't want anything. I was trying to visit Atlanna on Mars when I was pulled here instead," the Doctor explained.

"What's Atlanna?"

"It's not a what, it's a who. She's the high priestess on Mars and today is her birthday."

"You lie. There are no living things on Mars," she stated almost laughing.

"Yes, I do but not about Mars. And yes, there are," he said matter-of-factly. They stared at each other for a moment. He considered her as she stood there with the cricket bat still on her shoulder. "Do you believe I'm an alien?"

"No."

"Do you believe the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than on the outside?"

"Possibly."

"You don't think there are aliens on Mars?"

She hesitated. "Uh, no."

"What do you believe is in outer space?"

Isabelle stared at him a moment. She finally lowered her weapon letting it drop to the ground. Frustration lit up on her face.

Throwing her hands in the air, she said, "I don't know what to believe. I've read books, magazines, internet articles, seen television programmes on all sorts of things that are suppose to be real, and yet somewhere, someone, usually of higher authority, says it's not true. That's the sort of world I live in. I'm constantly looking for the truth, but I only find lies."

"Ah," he said.

"All I know is that there is something out there and I plan to find out what. So don't lie to me about being alien. Don't lie to me about Mars. Just, don't lie!" she said with venom. "That's it! I'm putting an end to this. Fini!"

Isabelle went behind the tree and untied the ropes that held the Doctor. She let them drop once she was finished. Instead of getting up, she just sat on the cold ground leaning her back against the tree utterly irritated at the whole situation.

"Thanks," the Doctor said as he came to stand in front of her rubbing his wrists. "Although, I was just about to get myself untied from the rope. Your knots weren'tt tied very well."

"I know," she responded bitterly with her arms crossed over her chest. "I never do anything right. I can't even tie up an 'alien' properly or even threaten him," she said using air quotations.

"Oh, come off it," the Doctor said. "I was scared there for a bit."

"Were you?" she asked sceptically looking up at him. He nodded. He held out a hand to her. "What are you doing? You are free to go. You can stop the prank now. Who set up it anyway? Was is Beth? No, I bet it was Stephen. Well, you can tell Stephen he better try harder next time. He didn't even go to lengths to have you dress up as a proper alien. Pathetic, really."

"I have a feeling I'm not finished here."

"You're finished here when you tell me the truth. Then, you can go back home to your wife and kids. I'll be having a few words with Stephen tomorrow."

"Stephen didn't send me. No one did," the Doctor said sincerely.

"Seriously, stop."

"I'm telling the truth. I am an alien."

"Get it through your thick skull. The joke is over! Good bye!" she said angrily.

"Come on. I could do with a cup of tea," he said. The Doctor put his hand out for her to take.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm thirsty. I want a cup of tea."

"What?"

"Cup of tea," he said drawn out.

"Now?"

"Now," the Doctor said wiggling his fingers of his outstretched hand. She looked at it with intrigue.

"I suppose one cup of tea can't hurt and then you can go. I guess the least I can do is be hospitable," she said in a softer tone.

Isabelle took his hand. He pulled her up with ease. The Doctor walked towards the TARDIS.

"Where are you going? My kitchen's that way," she said pointing back towards her house.

"You still need convincing," he said walking through the doorway of the blue box.

"Seriously?" she mumbled.

She could see him become smaller as he approached the centre of the room inside the box. Befuddlement once again washed over her features in disbelief.

"Come on, then," the Doctor yelled from inside. Her feet finally moved towards the TARDIS.

Once inside, Isabelle took a proper gander. It was a round room with the shape that resembled a modern turnip with a large six sided console in the middle of it. The centre of console had a large tube with several smaller tubes with it that emanated an aqua hue light. On the walls were hexagonal cut-outs with lights in them.

"What is this?" she said quietly to herself as she glance around then meandered towards the centre. When she stepped up on the platform where the console stood, the Doctor was busy pressing buttons and looking into a view screen deep in concentration.

She leaned against the console and thrust her hands into her pockets. Her fingers hit his metal wand. She took it out and examined it for a moment. He watched her contemplatively. Finally, she handed the wand back to him. He took it appreciatively.

"Thanks," the Doctor said. She nodded and just stared at the floor in thought. Seeing her far away gaze, he asked, "You still don't believe me, do you?"

The question pulled her out of her reverie. She looked over at him. Again, those kind eyes peered upon her. She shook her head. He nodded his acceptance of the situation.

"Ask me anything," he told her.

"About what?" she questioned.

"Anything! Past, future, space," he prompted.

She thought for a moment, then asked, "Who really killed JFK?"

"I can't tell you that," he answered. "Sorry. Ask another one."

"Where will I be in ten years?"

"I don't know. I just met you. That's saying something, by the way. Anymore questions?"

"Are there really Grey aliens?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Are you really an alien?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Why do you look so human?" she asked spitefully.

"There are two theories about that. One that humans descended from us and the other is that we descend from humans."

"Ha! So, you're not really _that_ alien," she said with chuckle.

"Oh, no, I'm alien. Our physiologies are different. I have two hearts, rather than your one. I can withstand the vacuum of space as long as I have oxygen or I'll suffocate after six minutes. My temperature is about 22 degrees cooler than yours. Here, take a look."

He moved the view screen so that it showed the x-ray of a chest. Within the cage of ribs were two beating hearts.

"You're a digital genius, congratulations. That's not a real x-ray."

"Oh, but it is. See?" He bounced up and down, so did the rib cage.

"You could have planned that with timing." He rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said disdainfully. He brought out a stethoscope. He placed the ear pieces into her ears the pressed the chest piece to his chest. There was a heartbeat.

"Yeah, so what?" she uttered.

Then he moved the chest piece to the right side of his chest, yet there it was, the heartbeat. She still looked at him with scepticism. He looked annoyed. He unfolded her arms and pressed the chest piece to her chest so she could hear her heartbeat. Then he moved it to the right side. She couldn't hear anything but air filling her lungs. She was stunned. He did have two hearts. Again, he jumped and moved about as did the x-rayed image on the view screen. He proved his point.

"What kind of alien are you?" Isabelle asked nervously.

"I'm a Time Lord. I'm not from Earth. I just like to travel to Earth. Humans are the most interesting species I've come across. And you! I've never met anyone like you," the Doctor explains as he points his wand at her. It made a slight humming sound and glowed blue at the tip. He then looked at it, then back at her, then back to the wand.

"What is that suppose to mean?" she asked taking offense.

"It means your personality is something I have not come across before. Not even in other aliens."

"You're not going to start doing experiments on me, are you?" she asked with uncertainty.

"Oh, I already did that with my screwdriver," he replied holding up the wand.

"That thing is a screwdriver? And it scanned me? I didn't feel anything."

"Yes, it's technically a sonic screwdriver, more or less. Yes, it scanned you. No, you wouldn't."

"What did your screwdriver thingy say about me?"

"You are human from Earth."

"Is that all?"

"No."

"What else did it tell you?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Why not?"

The Doctor didn't say anything. He just stared at her from the side.

"Why not, Doctor? Is it bad?"

He turned the view screen back towards himself and started pressing buttons again.

"You're not going to answer me, are you?"

"Nope."

With a pouty huff she sat on the bench just on the other side of him with her arms folded across her chest.

"So, where am I?" asked the Doctor

"You're on planet Earth, on the continent of Europe, in the country of England, in the county of Surrey, in the town of Stanwell," she answered indignantly.

"Ah, a very thorough answer, thank you very much. Next question, what drew me here?" he said turning around to face her.

"That, I can't answer."

"No, you can't, only I can, eventually," he said. He examined the monitor again. "Has anything strange happened in the past twelve hours?"

"Some man was arrested over at the airport earlier today. He was carrying bullets in his pocket. I only know that because I work there. Biggest thing to happen there today. I worked late because of it," she answered with a shrug.

"Where was he flying from?" the Doctor asked.

"Dulles in Washington, D.C. He had to stop here to pick up his next flight to Dubai," she answered. "Ever since 9-11 anyone carrying anything suspicious is pulled off the plane."

"Aha! Get your coat. We going to Dubai?"

"Now? I'm just about to go to bed. I have work in the morning," Isabelle said adjusting her coat she already had on.

"You'll be back in five minutes."

"How? Dubai is hours away."

"Time machine," the Doctor said indicating the TARDIS they were standing in with a small smile.

Isabelle contemplated for a moment. Her face softened before it spread into a smile.

"I'll be right back," she said as she ran towards the door. As she ran through it, she yelled, "Don't leave without me!"

Isabelle ran all the way inside and upstairs to her bedroom where she flung off her pyjamas and trainers. Digging through her wardrobe and dresser, she flung clothes all over her room trying to decide what to wear. Five minutes later, Isabelle came bounding down the stairs in jeans, red t-shirt, and brown leather bomber jacket. She carried a pair of military style boots in her hand. Her long red hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"Lovely place you have here," the Doctor said indicating the posters and such scattered around. "Hobby?"

"You could say that," she answered. She sat in the faded pink winged back chair to put on her boots.

"I took the liberty to correct a few mistakes on your star chart," he added indicating a notebook and a poster on the wall.

"Oh? Which ones?" she said lacing a boot.

"Deneb and Dabih," he answered.

"Really? I thought Deneb would be near Deneb Algedi," she said tying up the first boot.

"Nope. Deneb Algedi is the closest star. Deneb is the furthest away with Dabih somewhere in the middle. From your vantage point on Earth, Deneb is here and Dabih is here," he said as he indicated the stars on the chart.

"Well, considering I've only seen them in a two dimensional capacity rather than your three dimensional view, you can understand my mistake." A puzzled expression graced her features for a mere moment before dissolving into a smile as she stood up.

"Yes, I do understand. To make you understand, I'll take you to see them."

"What? Seriously?"

"Why not?"

"Because I thought we were going to Dubai," she reminded him.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said. "Let's go!"


	2. Courage

**Chapter 2 - Courage**

"Do we need space suits or anything?" Isabelle asked as she shut the TARDIS door behind her.

"Nope. The TARDIS takes care of everything!" the Doctor said as he started pushing buttons and pulling at knobs on the hexagonal console in the centre of the room.

"Fantastic," she said under her breath.

"We're making one stop before we go to Dubai," the Doctor informed her as he pulled on a lever.

"Where is that?"

"Jail. You might want to hang on," he told her.

"Jail?" she uttered as the TARDIS jerked about. She grabbed onto the nearest support beam. "Oh, are you going to see the bloke with the bullets?"

"Yes. I have a few questions for him."

"Right," she said under her breath as the TARDIS made that same groaning she heard from her garden.

The Doctor kept his attention on the monitor that blinked and swirled with images.

"We're here," the Doctor informed.

"Already?"

"Yup."

"How are we going to get in? Visiting hours are over."

"Take a look," said the Doctor as he made his way over to the door and then opened it.

Isabelle slowly made her way over to him. Clinging to the side of the door jam, she peered outside. They were inside a building. A few lights were on further down the corridor where they had landed. On either side of the passageway were cell doors housing the prisoners.

"We really did travel," she said in awe. "We're inside? Ooh, but it's dark," she mentioned.

"Not to worry. The man we need is just down there," the Doctor said pushing passed her going into the hallway.

As he walked amongst the cells, he scanned them with his screwdriver. Nearly half way down the passageway, the screwdriver's sound pitched higher. He peered into the cell. Cautiously, Isabelle followed behind the Doctor making sure there were no approaching guards. She stood beside him and looked into the cell as well.

All the prisoners were asleep, including the man the Doctor wanted to speak with. The man inside was difficult to see given that his skin was dark. He was laid out on a cot. The Doctor waved his screwdriver over the lock. Isabelle heard a pop and the door opened. He walked over to the prisoner and gave him a tap on the shoulder. The man woke and looked up at the Doctor. Terror flashed in his eyes.

"Hello," the Doctor said to him as he waved his hand with a grin.

Abruptly, the man sat up on his cot. Isabelle quickly glanced through the bars to make sure there were still no guards making their rounds.

"Who are you?" the man said.

"I'm the Doctor?"

"_The_ Doctor?"

"Yes."

"Oh, thank goodness!" the man said with joy. "Can you help me? Those police officers confiscated my cargo and locked me up."

"I can't blame them. Your cargo looks like bullets. Very strict about that sort of thing here," the Doctor told the man. "You must be new."

"I am," said the man sadly.

"Hold on. Those things weren't bullets?" Isabelle asked listening in on the conversation.

"No," the Doctor said turning towards her. "They're eggs. Alien eggs to be exact."

"Alien eggs? That look like bullets?" she questioned rhetorically. The Doctor nodded. Isabelle beamed. "Fantastic!"

"Now, she's starting to believe," the Doctor said under his breath.

"So what are you doing with them?" Isabelle asked the man.

"I was trying to transport them to Dubai. A spaceship there is waiting to take them to the moon," he explained. "At this rate, they'll never reach their destination and it must be complete before the New Moon."

"That's next week," she said.

The Doctor stood to the side watching Isabelle. He wore a smug smile on his face.

"Why were the eggs in Washington?" she continued. The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and watched her.

"Their mother's ship crashed in Washington," he said sorrowfully.

"Yeah, but not before she was spotted over Vermont," the Doctor added.

"Did the mother survive?" Isabelle asked.

"No. I was sent to rescue the Krassen eggs, but I landed in Dubai. I couldn't risk my ship to be seen so I took human means of flight to Washington to retrieve them. I also had to bury the evidence of the crash. I was on my way back to Dubai, when I failed my mission."

"So, the eggs aren't yours?" Isabelle asked.

"No. My people look after the Krassen eggs. We are, how do you say, nursemaids?" The Doctor nodded.

"But you're alien too? You don't look much like an alien," Isabelle commented.

"Show her," the Doctor said to the man.

"Are you sure?" he asked. The Doctor nodded again.

The man stood up and started to undo his belt. Isabelle looked at the Doctor in alarm. She tried to avoid staring at the man unbuttoning his trousers. He let them drop to the floor. The man was indeed naked underneath his clothing but nothing out of the ordinary. The Doctor glanced over at the man seeing Isabelle's unease.

"Turn it off!" the Doctor said.

"Oh, yes, sorry," the man said. He touched his watch, or what Isabelle thought was a watch. The shimmer hiding his true form disappeared leaving behind black furry cat legs.

"This is a Frathen Plar," the Doctor informed Isabelle.

"Frathen Plar," she repeated as she looked from the Doctor to the half cat.

"Yes," the Doctor said and then turned to the Frathen Plar. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

"It's Jenro," the man answered pulling his trousers back up after turning the shimmer back on.

"Pleased to meet you, Jenro. This lovely lady here is Isabelle," the Doctor said. Then he clapped his hands together. "All right. We all know each other. Time to get you and those eggs to Dubai. Come along."

The Doctor began to walk towards the door.

"No," Jenro said. "The guards will notice I am missing. They will come looking for me but they don't know you are here. Perhaps you could find the eggs, Doctor. They won't give the eggs back to me anyway after my release."

"When are you scheduled to be released?" Isabelle asked.

"Tomorrow morning. They even rescheduled my flight to Dubai. I leave tomorrow evening," Jenro said with a slight smile.

"Blimey," the Doctor said with a wide grin. "Here's the plan. Isabelle and I will get the eggs, and then go to Dubai. We will meet you at the airport to take you to your ship." he said excitedly.

"Seriously?" Isabelle said wide eyes. The Doctor nodded. "And we'll be able to do all this before I have to go to work tomorrow morning?"

"Yup," the Doctor said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Jenro, who took the eggs?" Isabelle asked. The Doctor grinned widely.

"Forensics," Jenro answered. "I hope they didn't hurt the eggs too badly."

"Nah," the Doctor chimed in, "Their hard shells would halt them from probing into them. They were just looking for fingerprints and calibre."

"Then, all we need to do is find the forensics lab, or possibly the evidence locker," she surmised. The Doctor nodded and the two turned to leave.

The Doctor and Isabelle exited the cell and closed the door behind them. Jenro came up to the bars to watch them go. "It was nice to meet you, Jenro. We'll see you tomorrow," she said and patted his hand.

"The same, Isabelle," he returned with a small smile.

"Come along," the Doctor said and the two headed down the corridor further into the building.

At the end, Isabelle pressed herself against the wall as if she were some sort of spy. The Doctor stopped in the middle of the corridor looking at her strangely.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

She turned to him and pressed a finger to her lips and made a shushing sound. Carefully, she peered around the corner looking up and down the hallway. There were no guards.

"Trying to make sure we don't get caught," she told the Doctor. "Come on, the coast is clear. Which way should we go?"

The Doctor held up his screwdriver and pointed in both directions. "This way," he said indicating to the left.

The hallways were brighter in the direction they were going. There were no longer cell doors but office doors. Each had a label on it to indicate what was inside. The Doctor read each door as they passed it; Isabelle kept searching for guards.

Ahead of them, they heard voices. The nearest door to them read "Maintenance." The Doctor quickly used the sonic screwdriver to unlock the door and the two escaped inside. It was merely a broom closet full of buckets, mops, brooms, and other cleaning equipment. Cords, rope, and miscellaneous things hung from hooks on the walls. It was a tight fit. The two were pressed together facing one another. Isabelle hands were up and pressed against the Doctor's chest. The Doctor was trying to sort out what to do with his hands. If he tried to raise them, he would knock over the brooms. If he put them to the sides he would knock into the door. The only place for his hands were on her shoulders or in a very odd position over her head. He opted for the shoulders.

"Sorry," he whispered to her. His whisper seemed too loud in the enclosed space.

"It's . . . it's okay," she whispered in return.

The two stood there in the awkward silence. Isabelle was trying not to press her nose into his chest. Likewise, the Doctor lifted his head trying not to lay his chin on top of her head. Isabelle sniffed the air.

"I smell pine," she whispered.

"Cleaner at your feet," the Doctor said.

"Oh."

His hands clenched her shoulders tighter. Isabelle's breath quickened.

Finally, after a minute which seemed like an hour to Isabelle, she spoke again.

"Do you think we, uh, should try to see if it's safe?" she said breathlessly.

"Yeah," the Doctor said taking his left hand off her shoulder. Then, he put it back. "Can you reach the knob? My elbow is stuck so I can't reach down."

"Uh, let me see," Isabelle offered as she wiggled her hand down his chest. He started to giggle. "Shh!" she scolded.

"That tickled."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I don't mind. Well, I do mind in this situation, but normally I don't mind."

"Would you shut up. I can't get to the knob because of your elbow. See if you can wrap your arm around my neck."

The position left them even closer. Isabelle's head was pressed to his chest. Her eyes widened. The Doctor kept his gaze on the rope hanging behind her head and swallowed hard. Slowly this time, she inched her hand around him to get her hand on the knob. With a twist, she cracked the door just enough for her to peer down the hall leaning into the Doctor's arm. The guards had just rounded a corner. It was safe. She thrust the door open and the two of them fell out together then quickly parted.

"Right," the Doctor said clearing his throat. "Let's continue, shall we?" The Doctor softly closed the maintenance door. Isabelle brushed herself off and followed him.

Further on they took a right turn down another corridor. The first door on the left read "Forensics Lab." The Doctor entered after unlocking the door with his screwdriver. Isabelle seemed uneasy and kept looking down the hall further.

"You coming?" the Doctor asked.

"No," she said. "I'm going to look further down the hall for the evidence locker."

"Okay," the Doctor said and turned to go into the lab but Isabelle didn't move.

"What? You're going to trust me, just like that?"

"You seem to know what you are doing," the Doctor said from the doorway. "Now, go."

"Well, I don't!"

Her breathing rate increased again. The Doctor, seeing her in distress, came towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked deep into her eyes.

"I trust you," he said with ease.

She nodded. He removed his hand and she stood up straighter.

"Half hour, back here. No more than that," the Doctor informed her. "Take this. I know what I'm looking for. This will help you unlock the door. All you have to do is press this button." He handed her the screwdriver. She took it and stuck it in her jacket pocket, then turned to walk down the corridor.

As she walked down the hall. She kept her eyes on the doors looking for a particular one. Again, she found another door with "Maintenance" carved into a plastic plaque on the door. She opened it. Inside she pulled out a boiler suit. A similar set had been hanging in the closet she and the Doctor hid in. She took her jacket off and hung it in its place then put the boiler suit on. It was only slightly bigger than herself.

Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, she extracted the screwdriver. She rummaged through the closet. She found a fluorescent tube. Smiling, she picked it up and continued down the hall.

Isabelle strode easier down the passageway continuing to search the door labels for the evidence locker.

"Oi! Whatcha doin'?" a voice said from behind her. She turned around to come face to face with one of the guards.

"I was looking for the evidence locker. Heard there was a fluorescent out," she stated matter-of-factly.

"I haven't seen you before? Are you new?" he asked.

"Yes, my first night," she conjured.

"Well, Bruno," he said looking at the name on the boiler suit. "He's not going to like you wearing those. And the evidence locker is just down there to the left."

"Thanks," she said and turned to continue on her way. She slowly released the breath she had been holding.

Once she had come to her destination, she glanced back up the corridor to make sure no one was there. The guard had carried on with his rounds. She pulled out the screwdriver and pointed it at the door then pressed the button. It made its usual humming sound. She let go of it, then tried the knob. It opened. Isabelle's face lit up!

Inside, there were rows and rows of steel shelving holding thousands upon thousands of boxes. The smile on her face faded at the sight of the huge room behind the door.

"Oh, no," she whispered to herself. "You've got to be kidding me."

Isabelle walked further into the gigantic room and glanced at the first box leaving the light bulb leaning by the door. She noticed they all had dates on them. The boxes in front of her were from 1990. She needed the one that said 2004.

"It's the beginning of the year. There aren't going to be that many," she said to herself. "Which means this is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack."

She started walking down the rows of shelving reading the year as she went along. She kept her eyes on the boxes. When she completed two rows, she glanced at her watch. It had been 15 minutes and she had only gotten to June of 1995.

"I'm not going to be able to find the eggs in there at that rate," she muttered to herself.

Then, she looked down into her hand. She still held the sonic screwdriver. It was set to unlock doors. She lifted the screwdriver to eye level.

"I don't want to get caught tonight. If there is anyway you can speed up this process and point me in the right direction, please do it," she pleaded with it.

Isabelle pointed the screwdriver in front of her, pressed the button, and continued to walk down the aisles. For a few moments, there was no difference in the sound of the screwdriver. As she began to make her way down another aisle, the pitch began to go higher. She stopped and looked at the box on her left. It said September 2003. Then she turned to her right. There a box sat with January 2004 on it. She quickly pulled the box off the shelf and placed it on the ground. Swiftly, she took the lid off. Inside, there were white bags marked with names and dates. Scanning them, she quickly found Jenro's name on it. She untied the white string and peered inside. There was a plastic zip top bag with five bullets in it. She lifted the bag out and careful placed it in her pocket.

Isabelle looked down at her watch. There were only five minutes left. Quickly, she replaced everything and ran to the door. Before exiting, she picked up the fluorescent she had left at the door. With a generous stride, she made her way towards the maintenance closet.

Someone was walking towards her. It was the Doctor. She pulled the bag out of her pocket to show it to him with a smile beaming across her lips.

"Excellent!" he said. "But what are you wearing?"

"Boiler suit," she said as she stopped at the closet. She handed the bag and the screwdriver to the Doctor then unzipped the boiler suit. Throwing them into the closet she grabbed her jacket. "Come on, let's get out of here."

The smile could not be wiped from her face as they walked back in the direction of the TARDIS after going left at the end of the corridor.

"Hey, Bruno! Who you got there?" said a familiar voice behind Isabelle. They turned around to see the guard she spoke with earlier standing there.

Isabelle turned to the Doctor and said, "Run!"

They ran down the hall and made a right turn. The TARDIS stood at the end of the corridor. As they passed Jenro, they showed him that his cargo was safe and sound but indicated they must hurry because they were being followed. He told them to go.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor quickly set it in motion. A few minutes later, Isabelle was opening the door of the police box in Dubai as the Doctor stood beside her.

"We did it!" she screamed. She had grabbed the Doctor's hands and was jumping up and down.

"Yes, we did," he said smiling and chuckling at her. She let go of the Doctor to dance around the parking lot where they had landed.

He watched her relish in the moment. Then, she stopped and put her hands to her mouth, but was still smiling underneath them.

"I can't believe we just did that!" she said after removing her hands.

"You did it, Isabelle," he remarked. "You got the eggs."

"Yeah, but it was a fifty-fifty chance that either one of us would find them," she stated dropping her hands to rest on their hips. The Doctor shrugged. The smile she wore quickly faded at that one gesture.

"Hold on. What's that shrug for?" He didn't respond but held her eyes with his. He took the screwdriver out of his pocket and gave it a toss up then caught it with ease. "You knew! You knew they weren't in the forensics lab. When did you know?"

"When I unlocked the door," he stated. "It was already unlocked. I was scanning the room."

"Then, you had me take the screwdriver set to unlock the door. I guess it was you who set it to search the room as well, knowing I would use it to find the eggs. I didn't find them. You planned it," Isabelle deducted going back into the TARDIS to sulk.

"I didn't make you go to the evidence locker. That was all on you. You made that decision alone, along with the boiler suit, which was rather brilliant," he said following her.

"Yeah, but it wasn't all me. You helped," she said sitting on the cushioned bench.

"That's what I do," he said. The Doctor could see she felt defeated. "Come on! We still got the eggs, right now, safe and sound in the TARDIS," he said with a smile trying to cheer her up.

Isabelle looked at him. He beamed at her and his eyes sparkled. A grin crept across her lips.

"Yeah, we do, don't we?" Then, her face lit up with a smile.

"Come on, let's to do some sight seeing," the Doctor said pressing buttons and flicking switches.

Isabelle contemplated for a moment as he made his way around the six sides of the console. He held his hand over the last lever. He glanced over at her. She nodded and he pushed the lever down.


	3. Becoming A Protector

**Chapter 3 - Becoming A Protector**

The Doctor landed the TARDIS in the parking lot of one of the hotels along the beach in Dubai. It was a city that was just beginning to find itself. New construction was being erected in many places. It was a reason why Jenro could hide his spaceship so easily.

They left the blue box behind and headed towards the beaches. He walked slightly behind Isabelle. He watched her take off her boots and socks, tie the laces together and throw them over her shoulder. A slight breeze blew off the water tossing her red ponytail to and fro. She kicked lightly at the sand. The afternoon sun shone down upon them. The Doctor gazed at her. She wasn't an alarmingly beautiful woman like you see in magazines. She had a simple elegance about her, as though her face belonged to another time.

Isabelle slowed her pace until the Doctor was walking beside her.

"Can I ask you something?" Isabelle said as they strolled the beach.

"Absolutely," the Doctor answered.

"But you don't know what I'm going to ask," she said cheekily.

"Doesn't mean I have to answer," he chided. They both chuckled. "Go on, then."

"Why didn't we come when Jenro would be at the airport. Why come in the afternoon? I mean, I know we jumped in time anyway, but why not a bit further?" she asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," he answered. He took a deep breath and turned to her. "Mostly because of you. I thought you might like this."

"Oh, well, it is very lovely," she said tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They exchanged a small smile as they walked.

"Do you know where Jenro and the eggs are going?" she continued to question.

"I do. The moon," he said.

"Oh! Is that why he was worried about the New Moon next week?"

"Yes. The Krassen lay their eggs on various moons with the Frathen Plar taking care of them until they hatch. Then they return to their planet. The Earth Moon happens to be just right. They bury the eggs in darkness. In this case, on the dark side of the moon. The New Moon portion of the story is just superstition. They think the offspring will have a better chance of survival," the Doctor explained.

"Fantastic," Isabelle said in awe.

"What else do you want to know?" he pressed.

"Everything," she answered breathlessly.

"No one can possibly know everything," he stated.

"You do," she said.

"There is plenty I don't know."

"Name one thing you don't know."

He hesitated for a moment. His face contorted as he tried to think of something. He glanced over at her. "You. I don't know much about you," he answered seriously.

"Touché."

"My turn to ask you something."

"Hmm, depends," Isabelle said.

"I promise it won't be anything too personal," he said sincerely.

"All right then," she replied.

"I know you have a job at the airport, you mentioned it earlier. What do you do there?"

"I'm an office clerk."

"Sounds boring," the Doctor said putting his hands into his trouser pockets.

"Not really. Keeps me busy. I love organizing files and keeping records."

"Do you wish you did something else?" he asked her. She thought for a moment.

"I think everyone does. I would have liked to be an astronomer or historian."

"So, why aren't you?"

"A lot of reasons," she said sombrely. The look on her face was of disappointment. He didn't press the matter.

Isabelle glanced over at the Doctor and questioned, "Why do you travel alone, Doctor? Don't you have a significant other back on Gallifrey?"

His features fell into one of sadness.

"No. My planet is gone, along with everyone on it. I'm the only one left," he said plaintively and kept his eyes forward.

"How is it gone? Did it disappear? Oh, or did it . . .," then pursing her lips she emanated a guttural sound to imitate an explosion.

"There was a Great Time War between the Time Lords on Gallifrey and the Daleks of Skaro. The Daleks had the upper hand. There was only one way to end it, to stop the Daleks. I destroyed them and my planet. I was the only one to survive. I'm the last Time Lord."

Isabelle stopped walking but the Doctor kept going for a few more feet. He finally stopped and looked at her. Sorrow stained her visage as she gaped in his direction. Both sets of eyes glistened with tears in the sunlight. Her eyes shown like stars. He immediately down cast his eyes upon the sand. She moved closer to him and touched his arm, "I'm so sorry. Had I known, I wouldn't have asked."

"I know you didn't. I gave the information willingly. You're the first person I've told since it happened. Although, I'm sure news of it has spread throughout the galaxies."

"Should I feel privileged knowing what you did? Because I don't. I feel sad. You're the last of your kind. That means when you die, Time Lords will be extinct."

"When you put it that way, yeah," he said melancholy.

"Is there any possibility that some of them have survived?"

"No."

Isabelle looked away perplexed. She embraced herself as she stood there.

After the Doctor glanced at her, he forcibly grinned and said, "Come on, there are still miles of beach to walk."

The Doctor asked as they walked, "I noticed you didn't have photos of family in your home. Do you have parents? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Husband? Children?"

"No," she said flatly. Her face became hard.

"There's no one?"

"No," she said again with more force.

The Doctor's brow furrowed as he watched her move away from him.

Isabelle had stopped a short distance from him and sat in the sand looking out towards the water. The Doctor sat beside her.

"My family is gone as well," she stated simply. She continued to direct her attention to the water as she spoke. "I never knew my true parents. My adoptive mum and dad are dead. They were older than most parents. Sometimes they were mistaken for being my grandparents. They died in a car accident when I was eighteen. I didn't like being on my own so I married not long after their death. He died in an accident at work two years ago. We never had children. We tried, but I am unable. Now, it's just me."

The Doctor gazed at her with bewilderment. "Now, it's my turn to be sorry," the Doctor said softly.

"I guess we don't have to be sorry to each other. We both know what it's like to be alone. Yeah, sure, there are still humans around, but, most times, I feel utterly alone," she said with tears welling in her eyes.

She blinked and he watched as a single tear fell from her eye leaving a trail on her cheek that shown in the sunlight. She shivered slightly.

"Are you cold?" the concerned Doctor asked. He was ready to take his jacket off and put it over her shoulders.

"No, not really," she answered trying to sound more cheerful. "I like the cold, always have." Isabelle smiled.

An immediate image came to the Doctor. In her mind he saw her sitting in front of her fireplace curled up on her couch with a cup of tea snuggled next to empty faced man. Then the image changed to their current sitting position, but in her mind he sat closer beside her with his arms draped around her.

"Ah," the Doctor said with a chuckle. "We never did have that cup of tea."

"What was that?" she asked turning towards him.

"Nothing," he replied promptly. He avoided eye contact with her as he looked from the sand to the water and out to the sky.

"No. You said something about a cup of tea. I was just thinking . . . . Hold on. Can you . . . ? Did you just read my mind?" Casually, he glanced towards her from the corner of his eye.

"I have the ability, yes," he replied.

"Stay out of my head," she said enunciating every word.

"I don't do it often. It ruins some situations." He mumbled the latter.

"Well, I'm telling you to stay out of my head. Gah, now I feel naked," she said as she wrapped her coat tighter around herself. "Oh, no, please don't see that image that just popped in my mind."

"I'm not," he lied. He smirked.

"Don't lie."

He looked over at her as though he was about to say something to defend himself but he saw the amused expression on her face. She started to laugh. It made him smile and laugh as well.

"We haven't properly kissed and you've already seen me naked," she said still laughing.

The Doctor smirked. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"There. Now, you've been kissed," he said nonchalantly.

Isabelle appeared to be stunned for a moment as she touched her cheek where he had kissed her. He looked away. Their laughter subsided as the sound of the crashing waves on the beach took over.

"Are you hungry?" he asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, now that you mention it," she said.

"Get your boots on. We'll go have lunch before retrieving Jenro," he told her.

Isabelle brushed off her feet to put on her socks and boots. The Doctor helped pull her up to a standing position once her laces were tied. They walked towards the solid ground of concrete and asphalt.

The Doctor decided to take the TARDIS since walking where they needed to go would be nearly impossible.

Isabelle happened to remind them that they needed money. Working his sonic screwdriver magic at an ATM, the Doctor managed to get enough money for breakfast, lunch, tea, and supper for the next week, or so she told him.

When he stopped next, the TARDIS stood on a sandy lot near a strip of buildings. Wonderful smells originated from one of the buildings which the Doctor was walking towards. Isabelle followed.

Inside, there was a menu of all sorts of bakery items tacked onto the wall. They chose a variety of items. Isabelle did the ordering after the Doctor told her the TARDIS would interpret for her.

As the items were gathered, the Doctor stood with his arms crossed standing slightly behind Isabelle. He could still see her in profile and she gave one man a pleasant smile as he stood there behind the counter. The man retreated to the kitchen. Isabelle took a step back from the counter to stand even with the Doctor. She tucked the bothersome strand of hair behind her and cleared her throat. She avoided looking at the men now. The man that retreated into the kitchen emerged with a friend who was wiping his hands off on a towel. The man who had taken the order grunted. She approached the counter cautiously. He told her the total and she gingerly paid what was due.

The Doctor watched her trepidation towards the men. They were ogling her! With a quick read through the men's thoughts it was obvious they were very lonely men with only one thing in mind. The Doctor grabbed the bag of food in one hand and Isabelle's hand in the other. Outside, his swift steps took him towards the TARDIS practically dragging her behind him. Looking behind them to make sure they were not followed, he made sure she was in the box first, then he slammed the door.

Setting the coordinates to the airport this time, he avoided looking at her. Once they landed, he stormed out of the TARDIS in a rage. She stepped out gingerly. He stood stoic with his hands clenched into fists.

"Can I ask what that was all about?" she asked carefully.

"Those men," he seethed.

"So they were looking at me. It happens," she said brushing it off.

"Their thoughts," he spat.

"What were they thinking about?" she questioned.

The Doctor turned and glared at her with blue eyes that were now dark storm clouds. The hatred and loathing that emanated from the Doctor would have killed those men had they still been standing in his presence. Ever muscle was tense throughout his body.

"Vile musings," he growled.

"About me?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes about you!" he flared. "I keep forgetting there are nasty people in this world. I just peered into the minds of a group of men that turned my stomach. No man should think that way. I never would. It's disgusting."

"So I guess lunch is out?" Isabelle said.

"How can you be so passive about this?" he fumed.

"Because I don't know what they were thinking exactly. I have my suspicions. And I would rather keep it that way, especially after your reaction. I just want to move on and forget it happened," she calmly came back at him.

He took a deep breath and avoided eye contact.

"If you're not going to eat, that's fine. But I'm going back in the TARDIS," she stated as she turned to walk back into the blue box.

The Doctor chanced a glance at her as he watched her disappear. He sighed heavily and followed her with deliberate steps.

Isabelle was already sitting on the bench when he entered. He hesitated at the door. He stood there like a shadow of himself, dark and looming.

"Not bad for men who have vulgar imaginations," she stated as she casually glanced over at him.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. With unhurried steps, he approached the bench then sat down next to her. She took the bag off the console and handed it to him. He took out one of the flat breads and took a bite.

"Seems they put their efforts into baking rather than their carnal nature," he stated. Isabelle nearly choked as she laughed. The Doctor's hard expression melted away when he saw her smile. He finished his bread before saying, "I'm sorry I reacted in such a harsh manner."

"There is nothing to be sorry about. They didn't harm me and you didn't harm them. I suspect your blood sugar was low. You seem to be fine now that you have eaten," she concluded. The slightest of smiles hung on his lips. "So what do we do now?" she asked as she brushed the crumbs off her front.

"We wait for Jenro to arrive at the airport," he stated.

"Where should we wait?"

"Wait inside the airport or here in the TARDIS, if you like."

She leaned back on the bench. "Staying here wouldn't be all that bad," she replied with a smile.

"I could give you a tour," he offered.

"Really? There's more?" she said looking around.

"Of course there's more," he replied.

The Doctor went behind where they were sitting. He pressed on one of the circles inset in a hexagonal cut-out in the wall. It dematerialized to reveal a passageway.

"Are you kidding me?" she questioned getting off the seat to walk around to the opening of the corridor.

"Nope," he responded. "I'll show where the kitchen is, and the bathroom. That's always useful. Then I can show you the library, the lounge, the smoking room. I don't know why that room is always so smoky?" He grinned.

"A smoking room that just smokes?" she questioned.

"Yup."

"Fantastic!"

The Doctor gestured for her to go down the corridor first. He followed up behind Isabelle. There was a short corridor before it branched out to the left and right.

"Which way?" she asked.

"Your pick," he answered. She turned left. Isabelle's eyes were bright and searching. When she came to a door, she stopped. It was slightly ajar.

"What's in here?"

"Storage," he said ushering her forward to the next door.

"Oh, okay," she said moving.

At the next door, the Doctor said, "Try opening the door." Isabelle tried the handle but nothing happened. "Now, put your hand on the door," as he pressed buttons on a keypad behind a small panel door beside the door. Isabelle hesitated. "It's not going to bite you."

She pressed her hand against the door. "Ow!" she yelped and withdrew her hand. "It did bite me!"

"No, it didn't. It took a DNA sample. This is your room now. Only you can open the door," he informed her. "Try the handle now."

She was hesitated again but managed to open it without incident.

"See," he said.

"Fantastic," she uttered as she walked in.

The large room had an ultra modern chair and a dresser in black but nothing else. The walls were bare and stark white. The floor was solid and the same colour as the walls. The room glowed all on its own without visible lighting.

"Oh," she said rather disappointed.

The Doctor stepped in after her. "Oh, sorry. It's in default mode," he mentioned. "I can fix that but it takes a while.

"No, that's okay. It's fine," she said.

"Really?" he said. She nodded. "Okay, moving on."

They went out of her room and continued on down the corridor. He showed her where the kitchen, dining room, library, and the smoking room were down a series of other corridors. They had just came out of the smoking room.

Isabelle was coughing as she spoke, "And that's all it does?"

"Yeah. I can never stay in there long enough to figure out why it's smoking," he replied closing the door and waving at the air around him.

"What about using a scuba tank or even a space suit?"

"I never thought of that," he said looking surprised. Isabelle chuckled.

"Now, there is a room I absolutely must see," she said.

"Which room is that?"

"The loo."

"Oh, yes," he uttered. "I'll show you." He walked back the way they came. A few paces down he stood in front of a door.

"Here we are," he said and was just about to walk off when she stopped him.

"Do you think you could wait for me? I don't think I could find my way back," she said sheepishly.

"Really? It's not that difficult to get back. You just go down here, make right, pass about seven doors, then turn left. Continue on until you see the door marked with . . . ," he said dragging out the last few words detecting that she wasn't going to remember all the verbal cues. "I'll wait right here."

"I appreciate it. I won't be long," she said as she went in.

Inside, she leaned against the closed door and took a deep breath. She then did her business and washed up at the sink splashing some water on her face as well. She glanced at herself in the mirror as she grabbed a towel. The woman staring back at her was more vibrant and alert. There was a glow about her. Isabelle touched her cheek, as did her reflection in the mirror.

"Are you all right in there?" the Doctor's muffled voice sounded through the door.

"Yes," she said turning from the mirror. "I'm absolutely fine." This she said quieter and more to herself as she caught one more glance in the mirror at her shining image.

In the corridor, the Doctor stood there with his hands in his trouser pockets leaning against the wall. The appearance of him in that manner made her catch her breath.

"All set?" he inquired. She nodded with a smile.

He started walking back towards the direction they had come. She followed behind him. When they came near her room she stopped.

"I'm going to take one more look around my room," she said as she put her hand on the handle.

"Okay," he said and continued on. He turned right to go back to the console room.

Isabelle took her hand off the handle and walked down to the one door they passed that was cracked open. She paused in front of it then gave it a slight nudge. It swung open. From the doorway, she saw a leather club chair and a small round side table. Looking down the corridor, she made sure the Doctor hadn't double backed, then she ventured into the room.

There were oak carved wood panels that lined the walls. The floor was similar but it was polished so that you could see yourself in it. Oriental rugs covered over most of the opulent flooring. Mahogany book shelves dotted themselves around the walls like Scot Guards looming high overhead touching the twelve foot ceilings. Each unit was stuffed full of books.

"This is definitely not storage," she muttered to herself.

Approaching the book shelf directly across from her, she grazed over the books reading the spines. There were classics such as _The Tale of Two Cities _but also more recent titles like _Life of Pi_.

At first glance, the room seemed to be a study or library of sorts but tucked into an alcove on the left side of the room was a bed. It was similar to the one she had at home, a canopy bed with heavy curtains tied to the bed posts. The curtains were dark as night almost black but there was a hue of blue in them. As she got closer to the bed, she saw it was untouched. Dust lay in the creases of the curtains. The duvet had not been turned down for some time. Everything else in the room was spotless.

"I see you found my room."

His voice startled her and she spun around on the spot. He wasn't upset. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was leaning against the shelf where she had discovered _The Time Traveler's Wife_.

"I'm sorry, the door was open. I didn't know. I thought it was a library," she responded hastily.

"It's alright, Isabelle," he said putting his arms down and strolling over towards her. He stuck his hands into his pockets and stopped a few feet from her.

"It's a beautiful room," she commented.

"You like it?" he questioned.

"Yeah, I do. It looks like it should be in a castle, not in a time and space ship," she stated moving towards one of the shelves.

"I usually decorate rooms to represent places and time periods I've been to. I have a small bedroom that mirrors the ones on the Titanic. I have game room that is very reminisce of the 1980s," he explained.

"I bet that would take me back to my childhood," she said with a chuckle.

"Which one?" the Doctor asked.

"Are you serious?" she quipped.

"No," he said with a smile. "How old are you anyway?"

"I'm twenty-four," she answered turning her attention to the books.

"Just in the prime of your life. I came at a good time. It'll give you lots of stories to tell your grandkids," he said light-heartedly.

Isabelle didn't move. She just stared at the books in front of her.

"Isabelle, are you all right?" the Doctor said now standing behind her.

She didn't answer but walked over to his chair. She sat in it with tears in her eyes. He moved closer to the chair and knelt on the floor beside her. He tried to catch her eye but she merely stared blankly with her head slightly drooped.

"Isabelle," he said softly. She did not acknowledge him. "Isabelle, I'm sorry. I was stupid for saying that."

The tears fell silently down her cheek. He moved to kneel directly in front of her. She had no choice but to look at him although she kept him out of focus.

"Please talk to me," he pleaded. "You are all I have."

"That's a lie," she said just above a whisper. Pulling him into focus, she looked him in the eye. "You have all of time and space to talk to anyone. I have no one. Everyone I have loved is gone. I have no friends, no family, nothing. I will never have children or grandchildren. I thought you would remember that. Just take me home."

"You have me," the Doctor said. Isabelle's shoulders relaxed. "Going home is not an option. We still have to see to Jenro. I know you don't want to disappoint him. Stay for that, and then I will take you home. Right now, we have two choices," he told her. "We can make tea here or go out for tea?" She shook her head as a smile slipped its way onto her lips.

"Let's go out for tea and wait for Jenro," she offered serenely.

"All right," he said standing up.


	4. Not To Their Full Potential

**Chapter 4 - Not To Their Full Potential**

When they were inside the airport, they ascertained Jenro's flight number and gate. Near the gate they found a coffee shop. There were no creepy men in the shop, Isabelle noted. Just to be certain, the Doctor ordered this time while she found them a table.

As they drank their cups of tea, they chatted about various things. Isabelle explained that she had been adopted at the age of four after being in foster care for two years. She had been found wandering the streets alone. Her adoptive parents had been very loving. Their death made her understand that life was short and to seize opportunities. It was why she had gotten into the TARDIS. She admitted she had her reservations about the true nature of the TARDIS but when he had opened the door inside the West End Central Police Station, she knew he was telling the truth. It had been a long time since she put her trust in anyone. Now, she knew she could trust him.

The Doctor, on the other hand, went on ramblings about alien life on other planets Isabelle had never heard before. She listened intently to everything he said, asking questions when appropriate. He didn't treat her like a child. He was more like a professor, extending his knowledge to her.

Before long, they heard the announcement of the arrival of Jenro's flight. Isabelle had managed to find a piece of paper and borrowed a pen to write his name on it. She held it up as the passengers exited the gate. When Jenro saw the sign Isabelle had made he beamed. He walked over with open arms. Isabelle rushed over to him to embrace him.

"It is so good to see you again. I hope the police weren't too hard on you," she whispered into his ear.

"Not too hard. They do try though," he returned as he released her. "Ah, there he is the good Doctor."

Jenro walked up to the Doctor and shook his hand.

"I owe you one, sir," Jenro said. "If you should ever need anything you know where to find me."

"I do."

Jenro leaned closer towards the Doctor to say something to him even though Isabelle could still hear him. "Especially if you need plono," he said giving the Doctor a nudge.

The Doctor looked over at Isabelle with a smile and said in return, "I don't think that will be necessary."

"Oh, why not?" Jenro asked.

The Doctor whispered into Jenro's ear. This time Isabelle couldn't hear. When the Doctor finished speaking Jenro turned to regard her pleasantly.

"Oh, I see," Jenro replied.

"What?" Isabelle stated.

"We really should be going, Doctor," Jenro said.

"Yes, we should," the Doctor agreed.

The two men started walking off down the terminal.

"What's plono?" Isabelle asked Jenro once she caught up.

"It's an herb we have on my planet," he stated. He and the Doctor looked at each other from the corner of their eyes.

"Oh," Isabelle replied. "What would you need plono for, Doctor?" she questioned walking behind them and coming up on the Doctor's other side while the two men walked closely together.

"Research. Cooking. A garden. Pick one," he said looking straight ahead as strode through the airport.

"Well, don't you know?"

"That's why I told Jenro it wasn't necessary. I don't need it."

"Jenro thinks you do."

He stopped which made the other two stop as well.

"Isabelle," he said with a slight raised voice. A few people in the terminal turned to look at them. All three noticed the attention the Doctor had attracted. "Isabelle, " he said softer leaning closer to her, "plono is equivalent to your wacky backy."

"Oh," she said with a raised brow. The Doctor stood up straight.

"We need to keep moving," the Doctor said and continued to walk.

Jenro walked with Isabelle towards the exit. They both trailed the Doctor by a few steps. Just before they walked through the doors leading outside to the car park, Jenro turned to Isabelle.

"He likes you, you know," he said in a hushed voice.

"What?" Isabelle said taken aback.

"He enjoys your company," Jenro added.

"Well, that's nice to know, I guess," she said unsure where Jenro was going with his statements.

"My species are not only nursemaids, but we are matchmakers. We help the Krassen find their perfect mates. We've been known to assist with other species as well."

"As much as I like the Doctor in return, I don't like him on a romantic level. Besides, we're of two different species. It would never work."

"There have been known human and Time Lord pairings. Not many, mind you. Time Lords and Ladies have issues with humans' short life spans."

"Oh, I can understand that," Isabelle said sadly.

"Would you like me to say anything to him for you?"

"No, that won't be necessary. I'm sure he'll be on his way once he takes me home after we see you off," she surmised.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Jenro said with a chuckle.

Isabelle decided to ignore his comment as they approached the TARDIS. The Doctor had the door open. He stepped through the doorway first. She followed him in. Jenro closed the door behind himself.

"You ought to let a lady enter first, Doctor. It's only polite. Where are your manners?" Jenro said.

"I thought you were only suppose to do that on dates? She's not my date," he responded.

"It makes a female feel special even if she's not a date, my dear boy," Jenro explained. Isabelle smiled.

"I am hardly a boy," the Doctor corrected. "I'm 900 years old."

"You certainly don't act like it," Jenro returned. "You must still be in your first incarnation."

"Ha!" the Doctor laughed.

"What's an incarnation?" Isabelle interrupted.

"Have you not told her of your regeneration, Doctor?" Jenro questioned.

"I hadn't gotten to that yet," the Doctor said as he flipped switches.

"Oh, well. May I explain?" Jenro asked.

"Be my guest," the Doctor said.

"You see, our dear Doctor here can regenerate, er, change into another being if he should happen to perish. Time Lords keep all their memories from their previous regenerations. Most Time Lords have twelve regenerations. Which incarnation are you in currently, Doctor?"

"Ten, no wait, I don't count that one. Nine," the Doctor answered.

"What do you mean by perish?" Isabelle asked with concern.

"Just what it means. If he should die, either of old age or accident."

"So you only have three more times to die?" she questioned.

"Yeah," the Doctor responded.

"But you said you were 900 years old? If the average life span is for 78 years, you must have lived a bit longer in each incarnation, closer to a hundred years," she deduced.

"You haven't been using your incarnations to their full potential, Doctor," Jenro said condescendingly. The Doctor shrugged his shoulders has he gazed at the view screen. "The average incarnation for a Time Lord is a thousand years."

"You could technically still be in your first incarnation, and yet, you're not. What have you been doing that is so dangerous?" Isabelle stated.

"Saving the universe," the Doctor said as he glanced at her then turned back to the monitor. "Now, Jenro, would you kindly drop the discussion of my age and help me find your spaceship."

While Jenro gave the Doctor coordinates, Isabelle stared at the Doctor with a furrowed brow.

The TARDIS landed with a boom in a construction zone. The Doctor retrieved the eggs for Jenro from a holding compartment. Jenro was pleased that no harm had come to them. Isabelle gave him a hug.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Jenro. This has been a day to remember. Aliens are definitely not as they are portrayed in movies. Of the two I have met, one is saving the universe, and the other is making sure it continues with new life. I'm sure there must be dangerous aliens as well. There is always good and evil in everything because there has to be a balance," she stated. Jenro and the Doctor looked at each other and beamed at Isabelle.

"You are absolutely correct, Isabelle. You have been a delight, but I must be off," Jenro returned.

The Doctor and Isabelle made sure Jenro took off safely. As the day turned to night, they watched his ship sail off to the moon. Once he was gone, they retreated back into the TARDIS.

"Well, I guess that is done," Isabelle remarked.

"Yes, it is," the Doctor returned. "Home?"

"Home."


	5. Five Minutes

**Chapter 5 - Five Minutes**

Isabelle stood in her kitchen staring at the clock on her wall. It read five minutes after the time she had gotten into the TARDIS to travel to the jail where Jenro was being held. Only five minutes had elapsed but her mind and body knew a whole day and a half had past. In only five minutes, she had met another alien, saved alien eggs, and watched an alien spacecraft shoot to the moon.

She turned from the clock towards the Doctor.

"I guess this is it. You'll be on your way and I'll continue to live my life here," Isabelle stated.

The Doctor pondered before responding. "It doesn't have to be that way."

Isabelle chuckled, "Yes, it does."

"What are you afraid of, Isabelle?" the Doctor asked as he leaned against her kitchen counter with his arms folded over his chest.

"Who says I'm afraid?" she said with gumption.

The Doctor smirked and shook his head.

"All right! I'm afraid it will be too much."

"But you understand what is out there already, the adventure, the creatures. Look at the knowledge you will gain," he said excitedly.

"I do. And I'm just not sure I could handle it."

"I think you can. Come here," he said leading her into her lounge and pointed at the walls. "Look at all these charts and notes. You were born to do this."

"That's what you think," she said almost to herself.

"That's what I believe."

"How can you believe that, when right now, I'm scared to death! You obviously live a dangerous life since you haven't live to your full life expectancy. I don't have that kind of courage."

"Do I need to remind you that you took the initiative to go looking for the Krassen eggs by yourself? And faking out the guard? You befriended an alien today. He will forever remember you," the Doctor noted.

"Jenro won't remember me," Isabelle slated herself.

"I wasn't talking about Jenro," the Doctor muttered.

Isabelle stared at the Doctor. He returned her gaze.

"What about my life here? What will happen with my job, my house, my bills?" she questioned.

"They'll still be here when you return. We could be gone for months but I could have you back by tomorrow, you're time," he explained.

"Don't you worry something will happen to me?" she asked. "What if I die?"

"I'm not going to lie. It's dangerous. I will try to keep you safe but it is a risk you have to take if you are willing to take it," he said with a bit of gloom.

"Will it always be dangerous?"

"Not always."

"And eventually, you will bring me back and leave. Won't you?"

"Yes, but that doesn't have to be for a while."

"How long, Doctor? How long before you tire of me?"

"I never get tired of anyone. I just know when the time is right for you to return," he said.

Isabelle nodded and meandered away from him then back again in thought.

"It's strange. I barely know you, yet I feel I know about you. Like I've heard about you in whispers or dreams. And now, you're here. These charts and posters were getting me ready for the moment of your arrival. And yet, I know the dangers that lie ahead," she surmised. She shook her head and sighed, "I can't."

"I understand," he softly said. The disappointment shone on his face.

The Doctor's gaze faltered from hers as she tried desperately to hold onto it. He slowly turned away from her walking towards the garden door. She followed him out to the TARDIS. He looked at her one more time as he stood by the door. Isabelle gave him a small weak wave of her hand as a final farewell.

"You could have been great, Isabelle," he noted.

"Maybe, and maybe not," she replied weakly.

The Doctor entered the blue police box closing the door behind him. Isabelle turned from the TARDIS. Her hand covered to her mouth and she went quickly back into the house. The familiar whooshing groan of the TARDIS sounded and then faded away.

Five minutes later, Isabelle was falling asleep to her own sobs.


	6. Dreams Do Come True

**Chapter 6**

On Sunday mornings, Isabelle was typically found asleep on the couch or, if it was warm enough, outside. She would stay awake late into Saturday night to early Sunday morning gazing up at the stars through the telescope her parents had gotten her for her twelfth birthday. This Sunday morning though she was wide awake waiting for breakfast her mother was cooking.

"Is it done yet?" Isabelle asked impatiently wearing a sundress.

"No, Isabelle," her mother replied with slight irritation.

"Where's Dad?" Isabelle asked.

"He went down to the corner shop to get more coffee. We're just about out," her mum answered.

"I hope we're not going to be late. The programme starts at one o'clock," she whined.

"Isabelle Brianna Darling! It is eight o'clock in the morning! You are not going to be late!" her mother shouted. "You need to settle down."

"Me? You're the one who's yelling," she returned.

Isabelle's mother pointed a spatula at the girl. "You need to watch your tongue," her mum spoke.

"Sorry."

"Hmm," she hummed as she turned back to the bacon.

Isabelle's father walked in with a small paper bag. He set it on the counter.

"Is breakfast ready?" he asked kissing his wife on the cheek.

"Don't you start," her mother cut into him.

"What did I do?"

"It's not ready, Dad," Isabelle said softly.

"I'll get the coffee ready then," he suggested. "Are you ready to go, Izzy?"

"Absolutely!" Isabelle beamed as she grabbed a piece of toast from the stack that sat on a plate.

"I figured you would be," he said grinning fetching the French press from a cupboard.

"I can't wait to go to the planetarium. I wonder what stars they'll talk about?"

"Don't you want to know about the planets?" her mum asked.

"I know all the planets, Mum. I looking forward to learning something new."

"Oh, Peter! Watch what you're doing. You're making a mess," her mother scolded. Coffee grounds were all over the counter as he scooped them into the press. Isabelle's mum pushed her dad out of the way as she swept up the grounds into her hand. Her father only chuckled as he filled a kettle with water. Isabelle looked at the pan with bacon in it that was now smoking.

"Mum?" Isabelle said as her mum cleaned up the grounds. "Mum!"

"What is it, Isabelle?" she said in a raised voice.

"The bacon's burning."

"What?"

"The bacon's burning!"

"Isabelle," a different voice said. Isabelle looked around for the source. "Isabelle."

"Who's that?" Isabelle questioned.

"Who is who, Isabelle?" her father asked turning towards her.

She closed her eyes as the smell of bacon permeated her nostrils. The voice came from inside her head.

"The bacon's burning," she said as she kept her eyes closed.

"Isabelle, wake up," the voice commanded.

"But the bacon's burning," she said in a groggy voice.

"The bacon's not burning. Breakfast is ready."

"I'll be there in a minute, Mum. Some man is talking to me," she said as she rolled over.

"Isabelle!" he shouted.

"I'm up! I'm up!" she said sitting upright in her bed. She held her head and glanced around. Her childhood home had vanished leaving her in her own bedroom. She turned abruptly towards the doorway.

"Morning," he said smiling that beautiful smile with shining blue eyes. The Doctor stood there with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned grinding the sleep from her eyes. Her mouth was gaped open.

"Making breakfast. Come on, before it gets cold," he said exiting her bedroom. "Oh, almost forgot. Coffee."

The Doctor walked over to the bed and left the cup of coffee on the nightstand. Isabelle stared at him in disbelief. He then walked out of the room and back down the stairs. She gave herself a hardy pinch on the arm.

"Ow!"

"It's not a dream. Get down here," he shouted up to her.

"Stop reading my mind," she shouted back.

"Wasn't."

"Lying."

She couldn't help but smile.

Isabelle slid herself to the side of her bed and took up the cup of coffee. The warmth of the cup seeped into her chilled hands. She looked at the beige colour of the coffee looking puzzled. She sipped the coffee.

"How did he know I like milk and no sugar? Not even my husband ever got that right."

In five minutes, she was downstairs in her dressing gown peeking into her kitchen. There he was, for certain, scraping an omelette onto a plate. From another pan, he pushed two pieces of bacon onto the same plate. He turned and discovered her there.

"Hungry?" he asked. She nodded with a smile. "Have a seat."

The Doctor set the plate on the table in the dining room. A glass of orange juice, napkin, and fork were set there. Another place setting sat across from where he set the plate. There were even fresh flowers in a vase.

"You did all this?" she asked sitting where he set the plate.

"Yup," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"I was bored," he answered walking back into the kitchen to whisk some more eggs.

"You really didn't need to do all this."

"I know." He was still smiling.

Isabelle shook her head and looked down at her plate. The omelette oozed with cheese. There were even bits of ham in it. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear before taking up her fork. She cut into the omelette and took a bite. Her eyebrows raised as the flavour danced on her taste buds. She took another bite. When his omelette was done, he sat across from her.

"What's in the omelette?" she asked with her mouth full.

"Ham and cheese," he said. She nodded. "Oh, and mayonnaise."

She stopped her fork half way to her mouth and gazed upon it.

"And the green flecks?" she questioned.

"Parsley, chive, oregano," he mentioned.

Isabelle glared at her fork again. "It's fantastic!" she said finally eating the forkful.

"Mmm," he murmured as he ate.

"Question," she said after she swallowed. "How did you know how I like my coffee?"

"At the coffee shop in the airport. You put milk in your coffee," he explained.

"At the airport we had tea with no milk and with sugar," she reminded him.

"Oh, right. Lucky guess."

"You did it again, didn't you. Read my mind," she said plainly.

"Maybe." He put another bite in his mouth.

"Another question. I locked the door last night. I assume you unlocked it with your screwdriver?"

The Doctor nodded after he took a sip of coffee.

"I guess the only question left to ask is, why are you here?" she asked the latter quite forcefully.

"The TARDIS wouldn't let me leave," the Doctor said just before depleting his glass of orange juice.

"What do you mean it wouldn't let you leave? I saw you leave. Is it broken?" she asked nibbling on her bacon having finished her omelette.

"You didn't see me leave. You saw me try to leave. It's not broken," he replied, "At least I don't think so. It would have indicated that there was something wrong. Unless the diagnostic system is broken, then that would make sense."

"You checked the diagnostic system, didn't you," she said in a bored voice.

"Yes, I did."

"Then what's wrong with the TARDIS?"

"She's being stubborn."

"She?"

"Yes."

"What is _she_ being stubborn about?"

"I think I might know."

"And?"

"She likes you."

"What?" Isabelle said spitting out the coffee she had just sipped.

"I think she wants you to come with me."

"No," she said wiping her mouth off with her napkin.

"Why not?" he asked sternly.

"I can't," she said shaking her head as she stood up. She picked up her plate taking it into the kitchen.

Isabelle leaned against the sink and looked out into the garden. There she stood bluer than the sky, the TARDIS, making Isabelle's life difficult and complicated.

"One trip," he said precariously close to her. It startled her somewhat. "Maybe the TARDIS just needs you to come on one trip and that's it."

"I don't know," she said distantly still staring at the TARDIS.

The Doctor took a hold of her shoulders gently and turned her towards him. The anxiety that Isabelle felt must have been apparent on her face. The look of concern from the Doctor had her bow her head in shame.

"I promise you, that nothing will happen to you," he assured her.

Isabelle slowly glanced up at the Doctor.

"You can't make that kind of promise, Doctor. No one can," she expressed.

Freeing herself from his grip she walked away from him and back upstairs to her bedroom. She punched her pillow out of frustration.

Five minutes later, the Doctor was knocking at Isabelle's bedroom door. She sighed heavily and opened the door. He stood there peering at her.

"Get dressed," he ordered.

"Is that how it is going to be?" she said, "Are you going to order me about while we travel? Because if it is, I'll be having none of it."

She stepped back into her bedroom and opened up her wardrobe sorting through her clothes with a smirk on her face.

"Darling," she said as she pushed some hanging clothes aside.

"I'm sorry, are we using pet names?" the Doctor asked looking puzzled. She giggled.

"No, silly," she said. "You once asked me for my last name. I just gave it to you. It's Darling, Isabelle Darling."

"Oh, right," he responded. "I still don't have a last name, for the record."

"Noted," she said as she selected a black v-neck shirt that cinched at the waist. She threw the shirt on the bed along with a pair of jeans. "If you don't mind, a little privacy please."

"But I've seen you naked," he reminded her with a smirk.

"Not physically! Out with you!" she said shutting the door in his face. This time she locked it.

Five minutes later, she was dressed standing in her lounge. The Doctor was sitting on her couch reading one of the alien magazines chuckling.

"Something funny?" she asked as she grabbed her bomber jacket off the coat rack.

"These articles are hilarious," he said tossing the magazine back on the coffee table.

"I'm assuming they are far from the truth?" she inquired.

"Yup," he said standing up. "Ready?"

Isabelle froze for a moment. She took a minute to look around the room at the posters and star charts. Then, she smiled and nodded her head vigorously.

"Excellent," he said grinning in return. He held out his hand for her to take. She gripped it tightly.

"How long will we be gone this time?" she asked as they walked through the kitchen to the garden door.

"You'll be back before the dishwasher turns off," he stated.

"Hold on! You cleaned up the kitchen?" she said stopping them. She looked around the kitchen and into the dining room. Everything was spotless.

"Yeah. I got bored while you were getting dressed," he replied.

"Oh, well, thanks for that. It looks nice."

"Can we go now?" he asked her.

"Oh, yeah," she said.

"Good. Come on," he said grabbing her hand and tugging her out the door.


	7. The Art of Caring

**Chapter 7 - The Art of Caring**

"Where do you want to go presuming the Tardis will travel now that you are here?" the Doctor asked Isabelle as he strode to get to the console gently pulling her behind him.

He dropped her hand to type on the keypads on the console. She looked over his should watching his movements.

"I don't know, maybe, somewhere exotic," she said provocatively. He turned his head towards her with his eyebrows raised. "Because it's cold! I want to go somewhere warm."

"I thought you liked the cold?" he questioned.

"I do, but I've never taken a holiday in the winter time," she replied.

The Doctor mouth broke into a tremendous smile. He then starting going around each of the six stations on the console.

The TARDIS landed on the southern end of an island. When they exited the TARDIS, trees surrounded them. The lapping of waves were behind them.

"Where are we, Doctor," Isabelle asked as she peered through the trees at the narrow beach.

"Not only where are we but when are we," he said casually.

"Okay, when and where are we?"

"The twenty-sixth of August 1883 on the island, or rather volcano, of Krakatau," he answered. He was looking in the opposite direction at the smoke billowing from the nearest peak.

Isabelle ignored the beach and directed her attention to the Doctor.

"You brought me to the most deadliest volcanic eruption in history? Are you trying to kill me so soon?" she asked with anxiety in her voice.

"We are here hours before it erupts. We'll look around for a bit and off we go before a single speck of ash can land on the TARDIS," he told her. He started walking off towards the west.

"That better be a promise," she snapped as she followed him through the woods.

The Doctor soon found a footpath left by the natives for hunting. They followed it around until it opened up to a small village on the shore. The clearing offered a better view of the peak threatening to rain ash, debris, and hot lava down on them. The village was rather busy. There were proa moored to the trees with natives pulling nets of fish from them. Other villagers had gathered to barter for the fish. There was a man with blonde and fair skin amongst darker skinned natives that looked out of place carrying an easel, a canvas, and wooden case.

The man set up his easel in the clearing on the beach. He faced the volcano and placed the canvas on the easel adjusting it one last time. Using the rocks around him, he sat down and took out a sketchbook.

"I feel out of place," Isabelle commented.

"How do you mean?" the Doctor asked as he observed the villagers moving about.

"I mean, I'm wearing the wrong clothing. Women did not wear trousers," she mentioned. Her jacket had been discarded back at the TARDIS which left her wearing her black top and jeans.

"I think you look fine," he said indifferently. "It doesn't make a difference really. Most of the people here are natives. They wouldn't know about Victorian fashion. The only person who might be remotely concerned about our clothing is that bloke there sketching. Then again, he might think we were making a fashion statement and enjoy rebelling against the norm."

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the ground. There were steady readings. The Doctor walked over to a native villager taking their fish back to their hut.

"Excuse me," he said. The native man stopped to turn towards him looking surprised he was spoken to by a foreigner in his native tongue.

"Yes?" the man responded.

"Have there been any earthquakes lately?" the Doctor asked.

"There was one the other day. The day the peak started smoking," he answered.

"Thank you," said the Doctor as he moved away from the village headed back towards Isabelle who was looking over the shoulder of the artist.

"Stop right there," Isabelle shouted at the Doctor.

"Why?" he asked stopping.

"Humour me," she asserted. "Can you draw him into your sketch?" Isabelle quietly asked the artist.

"Yes, I can," he answered delightedly. "Would you like to be in the sketch as well?"

"Would you do that?" she asked.

"For you, milady, anything," the artist said. Isabelle smiled coyly at the artist.

The artist stood up to position Isabelle for the sketch next to the Doctor in an intimate pose. Isabelle interrupted him.

"Um, we're not together. I mean, we're together but not as a couple, just travelling," she stammered.

"Oh, I see," the artist said with an uplifted tone.

The artist moved her approximately four or so feet from him. His hand was on her waist and the other on her shoulder as if performing a dance. The artist turned her slightly to the left. Then he came over to the Doctor and told him to turn slightly to the right. The artist did not touch him as he had done with Isabelle. The Doctor moved as instructed but kept a watchful eye on the artist who then moved back towards his easel.

"Ah, yes. Perfect," said the artist as he took up his sketchbook and pencils. "Where are you from?" he asked.

"Uh, London," Isabelle answered.

"What brings you to the island?"

"Research," the Doctor answered this time.

"Oh, what sort of research?"

"Volcanoes," the Doctor said seriously. The artist looked up.

"Do you think the smoke indicates there will be an eruption soon?" he asked the Doctor.

"Actually, I think it signals the last . . . ," but the Doctor didn't get to finish his sentence.

"I'm sorry but I did not get your name?" interrupted Isabelle.

At first, the artist seemed perplexed. The Doctor looked at the artist with disdain. Isabelle gave the Doctor a sideways glance but smiled at the man. The Doctor thrust his hands into his pockets hiding the balled up into fists.

"Arthur Sloan. Most people address me as Art," he replied. "I am also aware of how ironic my name is due to my profession." Art chuckled as did Isabelle.

The Doctor observed them exchanging smiles and pleasantries.

"Where do you call home, Art?" Isabelle continued to question.

"Originally I am from Tyrone, but to pursue my love of art, I moved to Belfast," he answered looking up occasionally to compare details in the sketch. "May I ask your name?"

"Isabelle. My companion goes by Doctor," she replied. The Doctor eyed her quietly. She smiled mischievously.

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Isabelle, especially in such a remote location. I never thought I would acquaint anyone from home in this part of the world."

"Nor I," Isabelle responded.

The Doctor stood there presently as Art sketched. Occasionally their eyes met as Art looked at him and then back to the sketch pad. He eased his tension towards Art.

"I'm just about finished with the Doctor. Would you like to take a look?" Art said more to Isabelle than to the Doctor.

"Yes, please," she said as she left her position to glance at the sketch. She gasped. "It's the very likeness of him. You are an outstanding sketch artist, Art."

"Thank you. Now, for you, my dear lady," Art said.

Isabelle bit her bottom lip and returned to her position. Her footprints were still in the sand where she was standing which allowed her to easily find where she stood previously. She was very precise as she stood in the exact same spot.

"Doctor, you can stand down if you want," Isabelle told him.

"I'll just be over there," the Doctor said indicating a hut in the background.

He scanned the area for abnormalities. The readings still showed minimal activity. He looked up at the summit again. His eyes widened.

Art was just about to put pen to paper when the Doctor shouted for Isabelle.

"Isabelle, we need to go," he yelled.

"Not now, Doctor," Isabelle shouted in return but not looking at the Doctor.

"Yes, now!" he barked at her.

"I'll . . . I'll be back, Art," Isabelle said apologetically as she went to walk over to the Doctor. "What is so important that you needed to ruin a sketch?"

The Doctor pointed towards the peak through the trees. The thin ribbon of smoke that had been emanating from the summit was now a billowing dark plume.

"I've never seen a volcano erupt, but isn't that normal?" she stated.

"Did you feel anything?" he questioned. "Like an earthquake."

"No."

"Precisely," he said walking towards the mountain.

"We're not going up there, are we?"

"That's exactly what we are doing."

Isabelle huffed before following him towards the volcano. Before long, they were very near the area where the smoke was rising from. It looked more like a crash site than a volcano about to erupt. The trees had been disturbed from top down. The smoke came from a small crater not a large bulge that usually proceeded a volcanic eruption.

"Doctor? What is that?" Isabelle asked pointing towards the back of the elongated crater.

The Doctor quickly moved towards it with his screwdriver ready.

"Doctor, please be careful," Isabelle said breathlessly. He glanced behind him seeing her hold her hand out as if trying to pull him back towards her.

"I will," he said.

Holding the screwdriver out, he set it to scan the sphere that lay in front of him half buried in the dirt.

"What is it, Doctor?" Isabelle asked just over his shoulder. He stood up straight and backed away to stand next to her.

"It's a bomb," the Doctor answered.

"Let me guess, alien?" she hypothesized.

"Yup," he responded. "It's a bomb made by the Acenes from the planet Lucius. They are scavengers, devouring anything in the wake of destruction. When they can't find destruction, they make it," he informed her.

"How do we disarm it?" she asked moving towards the bomb.

"We don't," he replied as he moved to the other side of the bomb.

"Why not?" she asked with slight fear in her voice.

"There's not enough time. What I need to disarm it is back in the TARDIS. The bomb is going to go off in half an hour. It took us that long to walk up here," he expressed intensely.

"Then we run," Isabelle stated simply. "We run all the way back to the TARDIS."

"What?" he said standing up holding the spherical bomb. It was the size of a bowling ball.

"Run, Doctor. Run!" she said in earnest.

The Doctor thought for a second then bent down to pick up the bowling ball sized bomb. He tucked the bomb under his arm and began to run. Isabelle tramped behind him through the brush. The branches slapped at their legs and arms but they did not stop running. He slipped a bit on some loose soil and Isabelle steadied him and then continued running. They ran through the clearing that was now empty except for Art.

"Art, get out of here!" Isabelle yell at the artist. "Get in a boat and just go! No, leave it behind. Just go!"

"Isabelle!" the Doctor yelled behind him.

"Coming!" she yelled and starting running again.

The Doctor grimaced as he ran directly to the TARDIS. He could see it in the distance. Tucking the smoking bomb under his other arm, he dug into his pocket for the key as he ran. As soon as he was stopped in front of the door, he slipped the key into the lock.

Once inside the TARDIS, the Doctor ran down the main hall then veered to the right. It was not difficult to follow him because of the trail of smoke the bomb left. Isabelle's heavy boots clanged on the grating in the console room and clomped along the corridors.

The Doctor finally stopped in front of a door. He thrust the door open to what appeared to be some sort of laboratory and scanned the room with his eyes. Setting the bomb carefully onto a lab table, he rushed to the right of the room towards a series of cupboards. Isabelle entered as well but stopped just inside the door.

"Look in the cabinets on the left for vials of viruses or bacteria," he commanded.

"Why? How is that going to help?"

"This bomb is made up of thousands of small self combusting organisms compressed into a small space," he said as he threw open a cabinet door. "The only way to disarm an organism is either to kill it or make it sick. I don't have anything to kill it."

"How long do we have to look, Doctor," Isabelle asked gravely. The Doctor scanned the bomb that continued to smoke. The smoke rose to the ceiling.

He looked up with concern etched into his brow. "Ten minutes at the most. Maybe less."

"We'd better get to searching," she said rushing to the cabinets on the left along the wall. He turned to continue his search as well.

"Trouble is I don't keep many viruses and the like around," the Doctor informed her as he passed over a vial after reading the label.

"So what do you have?" she asked looking at the label of two vials in each hand.

"I'm not sure. I've forgotten."

"Well, do you have an idea of where it might be?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that would narrow down our searching, don't you think? Where?"

"Somewhere in this room."

She let out an exasperated breath and grabbed two more vials. "I can't even read what this one says with all these concentric circles."

"That one's in Gallifreyan. Must not have a translation. Keep searching."

"These others I don't even know what they are. For all I know I could be handling water."

"Look for anything ending with virus," he said with vexation.

"Don't give me that tone! I'm not medical personnel," she retaliated. "I will say one thing, you need better organization in this room. What do you do, just throw it in here?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he said scrutinizing a long vial with blue liquid in it then setting it down again.

"Can you please do something about the smoke? It is getting difficult to see with all this smoke in the room," she complained coughing and waving a hand in front of her face.

In an instant, the Doctor raised the sonic screwdriver above his head. The sound of a ventilation system kicked on and the smoke began to clear.

"Ah, thank you. Why can't you just scan the room for the virus with your screwdriver?" she asked still trying to read the vial in her right hand.

"Never thought of that," he said standing up straight. He turned his head to look at her.

"Seriously? All this bloody searching and you could have known in the first minute we were in here. You are unbelievable," Isabelle said moving towards him.

The Doctor had held out the sonic screwdriver. Moving around the room, he scanned each cabinet.

Isabelle moved over towards the bomb. It still billowed smoke but it immediately disappeared when it hit the ceiling. She picked up the bomb to take a closer look.

"Uh, Doctor, this thing is getting hot!" Isabelle proclaimed urgently.

"Now, we have five minutes," he said just as the screwdriver's sound pitched higher.

Reaching into the cabinet he extracted a small glass bottle filled with a bright aquamarine liquid and brought it over to Isabelle. He glanced down at the bomb then looked up into her eyes.

"Go."

"What? I'm not leaving you."

"This is a highly volatile virus. I don't want you getting sick. This could kill you. I'm not even sure this will work. For all I know, it could feed them. You need to go now," he said pressingly.

Holding his gaze, she stated without wavering, "There's no time. I'd never make it out of the TARDIS if it doesn't work," She reached into his arms and took the bomb from him.

He stared at her big brown eyes. The fear in her eyes was fading. He turned abruptly to grab a syringe to siphon the contents out of the bottle. He raised the needle high above his head.

"Hold tight," he ordered her. He saw her muscles tense and thrust the syringe into the skin of the bomb. He depressed the plunger watching the contents drain into the sphere. He waited a few seconds before saying, "The smokes not dying. Is it getting any cooler?"

She looked at him with a grave face, "No, quite the opposite." He slammed the syringe down on the counter in anger.

"This was meant to be. There is no changing this scenario. I can save us but not the island," he said and ran from the room. "Bring the bomb!" he shouted behind him.

When they reached the console room, the Doctor set himself to put the TARDIS in flight just above the impact crater where they retrieved the bomb. He went to the door and pulled it open. Glancing out the door he looked down. He could see the impact zone just below. He went back to the console and started pressing more buttons then turned to Isabelle. He took the bomb from her. By this time, it was on the verge of being too hot to handle. He winced.

"Isabelle, I'm going to drop the bomb. As soon as I shout, 'Now!' I want you to pull this lever. Understood?" he said as he went over to the last section around the console.

She nodded her head but looked grave as she stood by the lever. The Doctor rushed over to the door. He braced his feet against the door jam positioning himself in the middle of the doorway. With each hand on either side of the bomb, he held it out at arms distance, then dropped it.

"Now!" he cried out as he slammed the TARDIS door shut. Isabelle pulled on the lever as the explosion of the impact of the bomb could be heard just outside. The TARDIS gave a great shudder as the comforting sound of escape groaned within its walls.

A few moments later they landed with a soft thud. The Doctor picked himself off the floor. He peered over at Isabelle. She was crumpled on the floor near the console. Rushing over to her, he knelt down beside her. The sound of sobbing emanated from her.

"Isabelle?" he said as he touched her shoulder. She flinched away from him. "Isabelle."

She moved and sat up but still scrunched into a ball on the floor. Her face was hidden by her arms.

"We could have saved him," Isabelle finally uttered softly slowly lifting her head. "We could have saved Art."

"Isabelle, there are events in history that must happen. This was one them. There was nothing I could do," he explained to her.

"Everyone dies on that island because of us," she wept.

"No, not because of us. We didn't plant the bomb, the Acenes did. We tried to save them. It didn't work because it was meant to happen."

"Promise me. Promise me from now on, we'll save at least one," she begged.

"Isabelle, it doesn't work that way."

"How do you know?" she shouted. "Maybe Art was meant to live and we sent him to his death. Think about yourself. Think about me. You're the last Time Lord, the last of your kind. I'm the last of my family. We were the ones who have survived. Promise me, we'll always let one survive. Just like us," she pleaded with the Doctor. She had a valid point. For some reason, they were still alive.

The Doctor nodded solemnly. Isabelle sprung forward and flung her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear. He held her for too long. She was the first to let go. He helped her up off the floor.

"Doctor! You're bleeding!" she stated with a gasp looking down at his leg. There was a large tear in his trousers. Blood was oozing from the wound. Isabelle bent down to examine the severity of it.

"Would you look at that, I am," he returned. He faltered his stance. Isabelle quickly tucked herself under one of his shoulders.

"Do you have a medical room?" she asked leading him towards the corridor off of the console room.

"Yes. Down here to the right," he instructed limping as she guided him through the passageway. "I set it close to the console room in case of emergencies."

"I'll get you fixed up," she said as they turned right.

The Doctor pointed to a door on the left. Isabelle pushed the door open. It was if they had entered an operating room. There was a single flat narrow bed in the centre. Large lights hung from the ceiling. The room glowed white just like her room. There were a handful of monitors and machines that lined the wall at the head of the bed with wires and tubes hanging from them. A stainless steel table on castors stood against the nearest wall. A cabinet similar to the ones she had searched earlier was tucked in the corner stocked with vials and bottles.

"Where are the bandages and antiseptic?" she asked assisting him to bed.

"Over there," he said looking at the wall in front of him.

"Take your trousers off," she instructed as she went to fetch the things she would need to patch him along with the stainless steel table.

"Your going to fix my leg, not my carnal knowledge," he reputed.

"Take your trousers off or I cut them off," Isabelle said facing him with a large pair of scissors. He immediately started unfastening the button. "Good boy. Take your jacket off too."

"Why?"

"So you'll be comfortable," she stated with a grin, "and it's too long. It's just going to get in my way."

The Doctor took off his jacket and placed it at the head of the bed. He set his trousers on top.

Isabelle rolled the table over towards him. It was loaded with cotton balls, gauze, bottle of antiseptic, bandages, and the pair of scissors.

"Lay back," she instructed the Doctor. He did as he was told. "This may sting a bit," she warned. He glanced at her and she gave him a weak smile. He watched her pour some of the contents of the bottle on the gauze then pressed it onto the gash.

"Ah! That really stings," he shouted.

"Told you," she said with a smirk.

"It's not funny. It hurts," he mentioned quietly.

"Sorry, I'll try to be more gentle," she offered.

The stinging became less as she continued to dab and wipe the area. He glanced down and could see that most of the blood that smeared his leg was gone. Her tender touch was similar to that of a nurse's touch, careful but calculating. He noted that she didn't seem uncomfortable with him being half disrobed as she had been with Jenro. However, he did have pants on as was customary with humans. Once his leg was cleaned, she told him to slightly bend his leg. It was a bit painful to do because she had her hand pressing a patch of gauze against his leg. He then watched as she placed a clean patch of gauze over the wound then wrapped his leg in bandages.

"You act as if you have done this before. Where did you learn to do that?" the Doctor asked her as he sat up.

"My mum was a nurse. She taught me," she simply said. A bit of a blush shone on her cheek. She picked up his trousers. "You'll be needing a new pair of these."

"Yes, I guess will," he said. "Come on. I'll show you my wardrobe." He hopped off the bed with a wince.

"Take it easy on the leg," she suggested.

"Now, you tell me," he said as he limped out the door with his jacket draped over his arm.

"Here, let me help you," she insisted as she again tucked herself under his arm.

"Thanks."

"My pleasure," she responded with a delicate smile as they continued on their way to the wardrobe room.


	8. Past and Future

**Chapter 8 - Past and Future**

After the Doctor was properly dressed and the medical room cleared up, the two stood in the console room. The Doctor was at his normal post at the view screen and first section of controls. Isabelle stood across from him examining some of the switches.

"Where to now?" Isabelle asked quietly.

"Are you sure you want to keep going? I could take you back home," he offered.

The statement of going home was said but it sounded awkward coming from him as if he didn't want to say it. She scrutinized him for a moment as he kept his eyes averted from her.

"I don't want to go home," she replied matter-of-factly. "Where are we going now?"

Her statement was finite. She crossed her arms over her chest and stood her ground. He finally glanced over at her. He looked pleased with her response.

"How about those stars we talked about?" he inquired with a cocked eyebrow.

"Perfect," she said with a grin.

The Doctor took Isabelle to see Deneb, Dabih, and Deneb Algedi as promised. She was in awe of the stars. The colour variations, their varying light years from the Earth, and their sizes put them in perspective of the tiny pin pricks she observed in the sky. She would never look at a star the same way again.

He also took her to the 16th century China to explore the Ming Dynasty. While he was discovering and thwarting the efforts of the Clasions, a porcelain consuming alien race, Isabelle managed to break one of the largest painted vases of the era. They managed to escape the wrath of the emperor and send the Clasions on their way with the remains of the vase which would last them until they returned home.

There were times when Isabelle had to remain at home to keep up appearances at work and in her life. The Doctor was upfront with her explaining that one day their journeys would end, and she understood. Although, Isabelle found it more difficult to see him go each week after her weekends were full of adventures with him.

It was another Saturday morning. She expected the Doctor any moment. She was pulling a baking sheet out of the oven when she heard the familiar groan in the back garden. As she was putting raspberry jam on a sheet of heart shaped biscuits, the Doctor came in the door. It was her custom now to leave the back door unlocked for him.

"What's that smell?" he said as he closed the door behind him.

"I'm baking, just for you for Valentine's Day," she said as she topped a blob of jam with another heart shaped biscuit with the centre cut out. She picked up the sandwiched biscuit and handed it to him. "Try it."

He took the biscuit from her and gave it a sniff.

She licked the excess jam off her fingers.

"What is it?" he questioned.

"It's a homemade Jammie Dodger. I don't like the pre-packaged ones so I make my own," she said as she picked one up herself and bit into it. "Mmm," she uttered hoping it would persuade him to try his.

Finally, he bit into it. His eyes lit up. She nearly laughed as he shoved the whole thing into his mouth.

"I take it you like it?" she asked grinning. He held up a thumb as he chewed.

"Fantastic!" he said once he swallowed.

"Hey, that's my word," she said playfully giving him a nudge with her elbow.

"I like that word," he said grabbing another biscuit.

Isabelle smiled as she continued to assemble the sandwiched biscuits. The Doctor took a handful of them and went into the lounge.

"Where are we going today, Doctor?" she asked placing the last biscuit on top of a dollop of jam.

She peeked around the corning of the kitchen door to see him standing in front of her star chart when he didn't answer right away.

"Doctor?" she questioned quietly as she approached him.

"Hmm?" he said staring at the chart still munching on one of the biscuits.

"Where are we going today?" she asked. He swallowed and licked his lips then turned to her.

"Oh, I don't know. You choose," he said.

"What about . . . here?" she said pointing to a star.

"Ah, not much to see there. That's a small weak star with no planets," he told her.

"Okay. What about here?" she suggested pointing to another star in the Orion constellation.

"Now, that has an exciting planet that I think you would like," he answered.

"Why do you say that?"

"That's where _they_ come from," he said indicating her poster of a Grey.

"Really?"

"Yup."

"And I can finally see them?" she said excitedly.

"Let me see," he said thinking. His eyes darted around the ceiling mumbling incoherent words to himself. "Yes," he finally told her with award winning grin. She smiled in return.

"Let me clean up the kitchen and we can be on our way," she said walking back towards the kitchen.

"I'll need to recharge the TARDIS before we go," he said finishing off the last of the biscuits he had in his hand as he followed her.

"How do you do that?" she questioned retrieving an empty canister.

"There is a rift in Cardiff. Found it by accident one day. The TARDIS landed on it after . . .," he said but he didn't continue.

"After what?" she asked looking up from putting the biscuits in the canister. He looked distant, as if he were remembering something difficult.

Isabelle went over to him and touched his arm gently. He looked into her eyes with pain. "You can tell me. I don't scare easily."

"It was right after I destroyed Gallifrey, after the Time War, just before I regenerated into this incarnation," he said glancing down at himself.

Isabelle wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself against him. He gradually embraced her as well.

"I can't imagine how difficult that must have been for you. I see how it hurts you to think about it. If you need to talk, I'm here," she said sincerely.

The Doctor was quiet for a second. Then, he whispered, "Thank you."

She slowly let go of him.

"Let me just finish up and we'll be on our way," she said with a slight smile.

"No," he said to her.

"No?"

"I'll go recharge the TARDIS. There is something else I need to do anyway. It'll just take me a couple more days. I'll be back before you know it," he said cheerfully.

"As long as you promise to come back," she said meekly. She slowly met his eyes. "Promise me, in two days time, you'll be standing in my kitchen. I'll have a cup of tea waiting for you."

"Two days, tops. I promise," he said.

They stared at each other for a moment. She eyed him longingly. He viewed her with consideration.

"Come here," she said giving him another hug. Then she let go. "Go on, then. The quicker you go, the quicker you come back."

"Right," he said with a grin. He walked out of the garden door towards the TARDIS.

Isabelle turned to put the baking sheets into the sink to wash. She sucked on the jam spoon as she looked out the window into the garden but the TARDIS was still there. Not seeing the Doctor, she looked around the garden leaning over the sink to see more of the property. He was nowhere to be seen. She shrugged thinking he must be in the TARDIS already. She went to lean away from the sink to start to wash up the pans when a figure caught her eye. She turned to see the Doctor standing there in her kitchen.

Taking the spoon out of her mouth, she put a hand on her hip and said with sass, "I thought you were leaving?"

The Doctor rushed over to her and took her into his arms and kissed her passionately on the lips. Isabelle dropped the spoon and started to flail at first. Realising what was happening, she didn't fight it but tenderly wrapped her arms around him. The kiss was wanton, yet affectionate. As if someone had flicked a switch, he grabbed onto her shoulders and pushed her away.

He let her go and stood back. "I . . . I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," he said and left straight away.

Isabelle stood there stunned. Before she could go after the Doctor, he was gone. The TARDIS groaned and disappeared.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor went quickly to the console setting the coordinates for Cardiff. Seconds later his TARDIS was parked on the Rift. He opened up the engines and set her to refuel. Then he walked outside to clear his head, as much as he could.

"Doctor!" he heard a man yelling with an American accent. The Doctor looked around and saw a man with a dated blue wool coat.

The Doctor looked around figuring he meant someone else because he had never seen this man before. Then the man, who was rather good looking, came right up to him.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" the Doctor asked.

The grin the man had been wearing fell immediately. "Damn it!" he shouted. "Too soon. Yeah, you know me, but not from this time."

"I know you from your past?" the Doctor asked.

"Past and future."

"Past and future? Er, don't tell me anymore."

"Don't worry, I know how this works. The name's Captain Jack Harkness, by the way," he said extending a hand to shake and looking around the Doctor towards the TARDIS a bit puzzled.

The Doctor looked at his hand apprehensively but shook it anyway. Then he said, "What's the look for, Captain Jack Harkness? Am I different from when you remember me?"

"You look the same. It's just that you were with someone and you didn't know who I was the last time we met," Jack mentioned.

"Maybe I did know you and I was just putting you on. And yes, I am with someone. Her name is Isabelle. She's just not with me at the moment," he said.

"Isabelle? No, you were with . . . Isabelle, right. Forgot her name. It's been a while," Jack said with a nervous chuckle.

The Doctor looked precarious and Jack looked perplexed. Jack quickly put on one of his winning smiles to mask his troubles.

"So, are you here to recharge the TARDIS?" he asked.

"Yeah. How did you know? Oh, never mind," the Doctor said realizing that Jack's past was his own future.

"Want to grab something to eat while you wait?" Jack offered.

"No, thanks. I just ate," he replied.

"Do you mind if I do? I could use some company," Jack said.

"Not at all," the Doctor agreed. Jack lead the way to a restaurant along the pier.

"Did you just leave Isabelle?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. I left her to come here," the Doctor explained. "I'll go back to pick her up."

"I see," Jack said.

"You don't know Isabelle, do you?" the Doctor mentioned.

"Sure I do! She's that brunette," Jack lied. The Doctor stared at Jack as they walked. "Blonde?"

"I'll take that as a no," the Doctor said.

"Ooh, a redhead. I do love a good redhead. So fiery," Jack said playfully grinning but seeing the Doctor's distress. His smile dissolved. "It bothers you that I don't know her."

"Of course it does!" the Doctor said heatedly.

"How long have you been travelling with her?" Jack asked stopping outside the restaurant.

"One month Earth time, four months my time," he mentioned halting next to Jack.

"You've been with her a while then. Okay. So, maybe something is different from the last time I saw you. Maybe there has been a change in events and I'll see you with her the next time we meet," Jack offered. The Doctor peered at him and a small smile drew across his lips.

"Perhaps you're right, Jack," he said with a lift in his voice. "Maybe that's it. Maybe something in time has changed. Maybe the next time you see me I will be with her."

"Of course, in your future, it will be my past. Don't get discouraged if I don't know you," Jack offered.

"Oh, you're spoiling everything. Stop," the Doctor said sarcastically with an impish grin.

Jack opened the door to the restaurant and gestured for the Doctor to enter. They stood inside for only a minute before the hostess escorted them to a table. She smiled pleasantly at them.

"You two make a handsome couple," she mentioned before leaving. This made Jack smile. The Doctor opened his mouth to say something to her but he only shook his head.

"This is not a date," the Doctor said to Jack leaning over the table.

"Never said it was, but you do realise this is Valentine's Day," Jack quipped as he perused the menu.

"Buy me a drink first," the Doctor implied.

"Whoa! Déjà vu. You _really _are hard work. Do you make it this difficult for Isabelle?" Jack questioned.

Before the Doctor could comment or answer Jack, the waiter came over to take their drink order and gave them time to pick out their entrées.

"Tell me about Isabelle," Jack said to the Doctor. "Besides being a redhead, what's she like?"

"Interesting," the Doctor said.

"Not much to go one there, Doc. How interesting?"

"When I first met her, she had me tied to a tree because she thought I was intruder, then a prankster, and then a wizard. It took a bit to convince her I was alien despite all the star charts and alien posters in her living room," he explained.

"You weren't lying when you said she was interesting. You were tied to a tree? And she thought you were a wizard?" Jack inquired on the verge of laughter.

"Yeah, something about Harry Potter," the Doctor responded uncertainly.

"Oh, right. Great story. You should read it sometime. You know, get to know what she likes, if that is her thing," Jack offered.

"Why would I do that?" the Doctor questioned as the waiter set down their drinks.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter asked.

"Ah, yeah," Jack said, "I'll have the steak salad with the dressing on the side."

"And for you, sir?" the waiter asked the Doctor.

"None for me, thanks," he answered. The waiter took the menus and walked away.

"Why would I read the books?" the Doctor asked again.

"Because you have a thing for her and this would help you get to know her better," Jack simply said then took a sip of his drink.

"I don't have a _thing _for her," the Doctor returned. Jack started laughing.

"Oh, yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"You should have seen your face when you realised I didn't know Isabelle. You looked like your world had come to an end," Jack pointed out.

"Did I?"

"Yes, you did, my friend." He took a sip of his drink.

"That makes sense."

"What do you mean?"

"Before I left, we had a . . . moment," the Doctor said.

"What kind of 'moment'?" Jack asked intrigued.

"I kissed her."

"You . . . kissed her? She didn't kiss you?"

"No. I absolutely kissed her."

"And then you left her? Not sure how she's going to take that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if she doesn't like you, then you have nothing to worry about," Jack explained.

"And if she does?"

"Earth girls tend to get upset if you just leave them after kissing them. I should know, I've been around enough of them. They want to know the meaning behind the kiss. Was it friendly or romantic? If it was romantic, then where is the relationship going? And in your case, you're an alien. I'm sure there are all kinds of questions running through her mind right now about that," Jack analyzed. "So which is it, Doc?"

The Doctor hesitated to answer Jack. The waiter came by with Jack's meal which allowed the Doctor a bit more time to contemplate the situation. When the waiter walked away, Jack managed to catch the Doctor's eye. He raised his eyebrows in inquiry. The Doctor sighed.

"Romantic, but it can't be."

"Why not?"

"I'm sure you understand my lifespan. I'd outlive her and have to deal with that loss everyday of my life. If I leave her after a few months or years, then I won't have to grieve over her entire existence."

"But if you truly loved her, could you do that?" Jack questioned. The Doctor became very quiet. "Wow, the Doctor speechless, that's a first." The Doctor rolled his eyes and looked away. "She must be something special."

"She is," the Doctor spoke.

"But is she special enough for you to put your differences aside when it comes to her life?" Jack questioned.

"I guess I'll just have to wait to find out," the Doctor answered vaguely with a slight grin.

"Ooh, so you are going to keep her on board. Excellent. I can't wait to meet her. By the looks of you, I'm thinking in another year," Jack surmised then took a bite of his salad.

"I've got to go. Something I've got to do, for her," he mentioned with a smile as he finished his drink.

"Something special? What did you have in mind?" Jack inquired.

"She has a room in the TARDIS but it's not her. I want to furnish it with things that she likes," the Doctor informed Jack.

"Very nice," Jack said coyly.

The Doctor stood from the table. Jack held up a hand to stop him from going just yet.

"Before you go, fair warning, Doc. Torchwood has been looking for you since 1879. They mean to destroy you."

"How do you know?" the Doctor asked.

"I work for them, but you're safe here. I'm the one who keeps them off your trail," Jack mentioned. The Doctor nodded. "Be careful."

"Hopefully, I won't see you for a while," the Doctor said.

"Again, I'm sorry about that. I look forward to meeting Isabelle," he said.

"And this time you will," the Doctor said with a small grin.

"If you want to have lunch tomorrow before you go, there is an entrance to my office just under the Terra Nova. Ask for me," Jack said. The Doctor nodded and left Jack finishing his lunch.

The Doctor remained in Cardiff for the next day and a half. The first thing he did was read all the current Harry Potter novels. Then he set out to decorate her room. He got rid of the white walls and floors. Her remark of the floors in his own room influenced him to put the same flooring in hers with large worn red oriental rugs. Instead of putting the same wood panelling in her room, he took his inspiration from her favourite story, and her own room in her home, and went with half golden yellow painted walls and maple wainscoting. He built a king sized canopy bed with heavy maroon curtains and a large cherry wardrobe with his sonic screwdriver. Of course there were shelves as well. He went to the local antique shops to search for trinkets to add to the decor. He found an old globe of Earth. He discovered an actual alien artefact from the planet Karn that he was certain the shop keeper knew nothing about. It was somewhat symbolic to him and he felt it deserved a place in her room. When it was finished, it looked like something from a storybook.

When the TARDIS was fully charged, he closed the engines and set the coordinates to Isabelle's house then pulled the necessary levers to get him there. He never did visit with Jack again.

He landed in the dark, much later than he had intended. There were no lights on in Isabelle's house. He figured she must be asleep. The rear door was locked. This surprised him because she always left it unlocked for him no matter what time of day or night. He used the sonic screwdriver to unlock it. Once inside, he saw a pot of tea sitting on the counter with a cup sitting beside it. The cup was clean. The tea was cold. Too bad he had not arrived earlier.

The Doctor decided he would check up on her in her bedroom. He walked silently through the kitchen passed the dining room and into the lounge.

"Where have you been?" Isabelle's voice resonated from the couch through the darkness.

"Isabelle?" he questioned the voice. She flicked on a light. Her angry face was illuminated.

"Where have you been, Doctor? You're very late," she demanded.

"Sorry. I was doing something that took slightly longer than I expected," he explained.

"I thought you said it would only take two days."

"Yeah, I did. I left two days ago and here I am now."

"No, Doctor."

"No, what?"

"It's been a month!"

"What?"

"You left on the fourteenth of February and now it is the fourteenth of March!"

"It can't be," he said turning from her to think.

"But it is, Doctor. So where have you been?" she asked standing up.

He turned back towards her. "Isabelle, I swear to you, I only left two days ago," he said keeping her eye contact.

"A month!" she shouted.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "The TARDIS must have wanted me to come back now for some unknown reason." He moved away from her again trying to think what could have pulled him so far into the future.

"I've waited every day for your return. Everyday I fixed a pot of tea. Everyday I hoped you would come back. Everyday I wondered if I did something wrong. I thought you left me without saying good bye," she said as she watched him sonic virtually everything in her lounge and continue on into the dining room.

"I would never do that," he said as he turned to go into the kitchen.

"Then, I thought it was the kiss. I thought I was horrid or something. I nearly went mad," she rambled and her voice cracked.

"What?" he said in surprise as he emerged from the kitchen. She glanced over at him standing in the dining room from her position in the lounge.

"I figured you didn't like the kiss," she said quietly.

"No," he said plainly. She stared at him. "I mean, no, it wasn't that. I liked it. Maybe it happened a bit too soon. To me it only happened two days ago, but for you a month ago. Oh," he babbled without pause. "Truly, the TARDIS brought me here, now. You can ask Captain Jack Harkness. He knows how long I was there."

"Who is Captain Jack Harkness?" Isabelle asked out of curiosity.

"Someone from my future that I accidently met," the Doctor said distantly. He thought for a moment. Then, he moved to stand in front of her. He took her by the shoulders and looked seriously into her eyes. "Isabelle, if anything should happen to me, I want you to go to Cardiff, to an entrance under the Terra Nova and ask for him. He'll be able to tell you anything you need to know."

"Is something wrong, Doctor? You're scaring me," she said with quiet trepidation.

"I don't know. He knew things, and didn't know things, that worry me. Promise me you'll go to him," he urged giving her shoulders a squeeze. She silently nodded her head. "Good. And again, I'm sorry for being late."

"Don't do it again," she stated.

"Never."

"Ever."

"Never ever," the Doctor promised as he embraced Isabelle.


	9. Alluring Allies

**Chapter 9 - Alluring Allies**

The year was 1916. World War I was happening in France. Isabelle was in a surgical tent tending to the wounded near Somme. The dead littered the ground around them. The death toll was climbing minute by minute as the train and horse drawn ambulances kept bringing back more bodies than wounded soldiers. She was holding a cloth against a bleeding wound as a doctor retrieved instruments to remove a bullet from the soldier's arm.

Her Doctor, on the other hand, was trying to figure out what alien race was multiplying itself and aiding the Germans. The amount of bombardment the British had supplied the Germans with should have had an impact. Yet, the Germans kept coming in droves.

The doctor finally returned with the instruments.

"Let me see the wound," he ordered. Isabelle removed the cloth. The bullet hole bled immediately. "Put pressure here," the doctor said indicating an area under the arm.

Isabelle put pressure on the spot. The blood slowed as she dabbed the wound again. The doctor then had a better view of the damage to the arm. He picked up one the bloody instruments to extract the bullet. She cringed to see the unsanitary conditions in which these doctors and nurses worked in. She was given strict orders from the Doctor not to alter anything and to do as she was told.

The doctor pulled out the bullet and sutured the impact sight. Once he was finished, he tossed her a roll of cloth and told Isabelle to bandage the arm then meet him at the end of the row. As she wrapped the cloth around the soldier's arm he began to wake up. When he saw her he smiled.

"If I'm in heaven, you are a beautiful angel," he said to her.

"You're not, but thank you," she replied. "You're going to be just fine. The doctor took out the bullet. You were lucky."

"I know I'm lucky. I have you as my nurse," he said getting cheeky.

"You are a charmer, but I'm sort of spoken for," she said with a sly smile. She finished tying up the bandage.

"Now, there is a lucky chap," he said.

"He is not as fortunate as I am. I think very highly of him," she said. "Get some rest," she said touching the soldier's cheek. Then, she stood up. When she turned around, the Doctor was standing at the foot of the bed. She swallowed hard.

"How much of that did you hear?" she asked.

"Enough," he answered with a smirk. She avoided his eyes.

"I'm needed at the end of the row. We will discuss this later," Isabelle said to the Doctor. Before she could move, the soldier grabbed her hand.

"Is that him, miss?" he asked her.

"Yes, it is," she said trying to hold back the wide smile that threatened to escape.

"Blimey, I had no chance," he said sadly. Isabelle leaned down to kiss the soldier's cheek.

"Let's make him jealous. What's your name?" she whispered into his ear.

"Thomas. Thomas Darling" he whispered back. Her eyes widened.

"Well, Thomas, I'll be back to check on you later," she said. Then, she stood up straight again moving towards the Doctor.

Just as she was walking away, Thomas grabbed her rear-end. She let out a little squeal but kept on walking towards the end of the row. The Doctor followed her.

"I was just goosed by my grandfather," Isabelle whispered to the Doctor.

"Good thing he's not a blood relative," the Doctor said boldly. She nudged the Doctor as he grinned.

The other doctor was waving Isabelle over to a wounded soldier. She rushed over without saying anything to the Doctor. He merely disappeared out of the surgical tent.

"I need your help," the doctor said intensely as she approached. "His leg has to go."

She looked down at the blood soaked clothing and cloth. Everything was red. The doctor proceeded to cut away the soldier's trousers exposing the missing flesh. Isabelle could see right to the bone. She turned away briefly.

"If you cannot handle this, I shall have to get another nurse, but tell me quickly," the doctor demanded when he saw her turn away.

"No. I'm fine," she said glaring at the doctor. He nodded and handed her a belt. She slid the belt under the soldier's leg. Then she thread it through the buckle and pulled tautly on it.

"Alice! Come help Isabelle hold this man down!" the doctor shouted at another nurse nearby. She came promptly to hold the man's shoulders. "Put this between his teeth." He handed Alice a bite stick.

"Yes, Doctor," she said as she wedged the stick into the unconscious soldier.

"Come over hear, Isabelle. Hold this leg. He may thrash about," the doctor instructed her. She did as she was told.

The doctor then held a saw against the leg and began to cut above the wound.

"Doctor!" Alice said. "Doctor, stop!"

"What is it, Alice?" he demanded but did not stop cutting.

"I think he's dead," she said gravely.

The doctor stopped and looked at the man. He then put his ear to his chest. Slowly, he stood up straight. Taking the saw away, he placed it on the table.

"Take the belt off and cover him up," the doctor said looking at Isabelle who was staring at the dead soldier. He looked at her with concern when she did not move. "How long have you been awake?"

"Uh, I'm not sure, doctor. Since 0600 hours yesterday," she speculated as she removed the belt and laid it on an empty table.

"Have you eaten?" he inquired looking concerned.

"Not much, sir," she replied.

"Go, get some rest and for God's sake, eat something. Alice, tell Joan I said Isabelle is off duty until tomorrow."

"Yes, doctor," Alice replied with a curtsy and walked away to inform the woman in charge of the hospital staff.

Isabelle curtsied and said, "Thank you, doctor."

"I'll finish up here. And Isabelle?"

"Yes, doctor?"

"My name is Peter."

She nodded with a small smile and curtsied again before leaving his presence. Walking away from the surgical tent and looking over her shoulder, she made her way towards a house beyond the hospital. Once she was sure she wasn't being followed or noticed, she sprinted her way towards the Tardis hidden behind the house.

Using the key the Doctor had given her after his accidental month away, she opened the door. The Doctor stood by the view screen. He looked over at her when she entered.

"Peter told me get some rest. I have all night here," Isabelle said wearily.

"Peter? Now, you are on a first name basis with the doctor?" he inquired.

"At least this doctor has a first name," she chided moving into the Tardis.

"I have a first name. I just choose not to tell anyone," he said in a high pitched voice.

"Why won't you tell me your name then?" she asked walking towards him.

"The only person whoever knew name was my wife," he replied.

"Oh," Isabelle said with disappointment. She had never thought to ask if he had ever been married. She quickly concluded that his wife must have perished with the rest of the Gallifreyans. She didn't want to think about it anymore and excused herself to get cleaned up.

In the bathroom the Doctor had constructed for her off her bedroom, she filled the bathtub with hot water and soap bubbles. Then she stripped out of her nurses uniform which was covered in blood. Slowly, she lowered herself into the water. She submerged herself briefly. The soap bubbles covered the entire surface and only her head peeked above the water. The warm wetness felt nice against her sticky skin even though it was July. The bubbles slowly turned pink from the blood washing off her hands, arms, and face.

When she emerged from her bathroom in her dressing gown, the Doctor sat slouched in her squashy chair in deep thought. He did not even look up when she came out. She towelled off her hair as she moved towards her wardrobe.

"Are you on the nod?" Isabelle asked as she passed him to get to the wardrobe. She could hear him inhale deeply.

"No," he answered.

"Can I ask what you were thinking about?" she questioned opening the wardrobe. She regretted the question as he came out of her mouth.

"You," he said, which surprised her.

"Me? What have I done?" she asked. She must have done something to upset him. "I'm sorry about Thomas. I had no idea that was my grandfather. I was just playing, I meant no harm."

"That's not it," he said sitting up in the chair and leaning forward onto his knees with his forearms. "I'm just amazed how easily you took to the nursing position. I know you told me your mother taught you first aid, but you have a remarkable bedside manner that modern medicine would be happy to employ. Why aren't you a nurse?"

She stopped looking through the wardrobe and bowed her head slightly. Then she turned towards him and said, "I don't like death." She turned back around to rummage through her clothes again. "I don't mind seeing the bodies that are already deceased. It's the ones that die in front of me that pain me. I saw one die today."

Again, she paused her search and looked beyond her wardrobe seeing the soldier as his life exhaled out of him. The Doctor had come up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He brought her out of her reverie and she took a deep breath.

"How are your plans going?" she asked trying to change the subject. She pulled out a t-shirt and jeans. The Doctor let go of her as she placed the clothes on the bed.

"I know who is aiding the Germans," he stated. "It's a humanoid race called Barits. They multiply very quickly and have short life spans."

"How short?" she asked sitting on the edge of the bed.

"One year," he answered her. "And I thought you lot had it bad."

"What are they doing here?" Isabelle said with concern.

"They find a planet that is at war and join in," the Doctor explained.

"So you've been trying to find another warring planet for them to go to, right?" she surmised.

"Exactly," the Doctor said. As excitedly as he had said that, his demeanour changed instantaneously to one of puzzlement. "How did you know that?"

"It's what I would do," she said. "Now, will you kindly remove yourself from my room so that I can get dressed?"

"And yet you keep forgetting I've seen you naked," he reminded her.

"You've only seen an image in my mind which could have been warped due to the fact that I don't find myself very attractive," she stated.

"True. Why don't you think you're attractive? You, who just had your tush squeezed by your own grandfather? And, is now allowed to call a doctor by his first name that doesn't allow any of the other nurses to address him that way? I think you're making an impression on the lads," he said matter-of-factly.

"Are you jealous?" she asked as she stood up and approached the Doctor.

"Well, no," he said avoiding eye contact. She stood directly in front of him.

"I think your jealous," she said sweetly as she gazed upon him and ran her finger from his chin to his chest. She tapped him in the centre of his chest and said, "Now, get out."

"Going," he said with somewhat relief. He turned to walk out.

The next day, it was raining. The hem of Isabelle's shirts were tinged with mud when she entered the surgical tent. She looked around for Thomas but he wasn't there.

"Alice, do you know what happened to the man who was here?" Isabelle asked indicating the empty bed.

"He's with the wounded inside the building," Alice informed Isabelle.

"Do you know how he is fairing?" she asked.

"Very well. Your bandage held last night. Not many new nurses can boast about their bandaging," Alice said with a smile.

"Thank you. Just doing my job," Isabelle said. Alice nodded and continued on her way.

"Isabelle! I hope you slept well," Peter said as he came towards her grinning.

"I did, thank you, sir," she said.

"It's Peter, remember?"

"Yes, of course, Peter," she said after she made sure there were no other nurses around when she address him cordially.

"I want you by my side today. I told Joan you are to be my personal nurse to assist me," Peter told her.

"Really?" she questioned with alarm. No one had ever requested her assistance before.

"Yes, really," Peter said with a reserved smile.

"Thank you, sir, er, Peter," she replied with a curtsy. They exchanged coy smiles. A loud groaned sounded from the injured soldier close to them. Their smiles faded.

"Come on, we have to sort through another train load," he said. Isabelle followed him out into the rain towards the drop off location.

The wounded and dead kept coming in by train and ambulance. The train held more dead and severely wounded while the ambulances held less threatening cases.

By the time the morning turned to afternoon, Isabelle had assisted with ten amputations, twenty-four bullet extractions, and forty-two flesh wounds. She was covered in mud and blood. The flesh wounds were sent back out into the trenches while the bullet extractions and amputees went to the nearby building serving as the hospital.

She was about to move on to a another bullet extraction when an officer approached Peter.

"Doctor Peter Crenshaw?" the officer said. Isabelle kept tending to the patient.

"Yes?" Peter said turning to the officer.

"I was told to I could find you here. I'm looking for a nurse named Isabelle Darling?" the officer inquired. Isabelle turned towards the officer.

"I'm not sure of her surname but this nurse here goes by Isabelle," Peter replied approaching the officer while wiping his hands off on a cloth.

"I am Isabelle Darling," she stated directly. She caught the officer's eye and stared.

"May I ask your purpose of inquiry?" Peter asked.

"Her services have been noted to be exemplary and are needed elsewhere," the officer commended. Isabelle's mouth fell open.

"I assure you her services are very much needed here, sir. As you can see, we are overwhelmed with casualties," Peter argued.

"I have been sent on a classified mission. Miss Darling's involvement is crucial. If I do not return with her, there will be consequences," the officer forcefully articulated. He clenched his jaw.

"Classified mission? Very well," Peter said and turned to Isabelle. "It looks like you are relieved of your duties here, Isabelle. I don't know how I'm going to get on without your assistance, but I guess I'll manage. If you can, later, come back. You'll always have a job here. It was a pleasure working with you. Keep in touch and I hope we meet again."

"The same, Peter," she said quietly.

"I assume she is in good hands?" Peter inquired towards the officer.

"The best," the officer stated as he cracked a dignified smile. "Miss Darling, please, come with me."

Isabelle curtsied to Peter and started to leave. Peter quickly moved in front of the officer making him stop along with Isabelle.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name?" Peter pressed.

"That's classified information. I only go by the Doctor," the officer said without any emotion. Isabelle, on the other hand, had to press the back of her hand to her nose to fake suppressing a sneeze hiding a grin. The Doctor stepped around Peter and Isabelle followed.

"I'm immensely impressed," Isabelle said as they walked out of the tent.

"I found it in the wardrobe room," the Doctor said straightening his tie.

"You look rather . . . dashing," she said with a smirk. "Very handsome."

The Doctor smiled as he offered his arm to her. She threaded her arm through his as he lead her across the sodden field.

"Where are we going?" she asked squinting in the rain.

"An open field outside the town," he informed her.

"Okay, why?" she queried.

"We need an aeroplane," he told her.

"There are planes flying in this?" she questioned indicating the weather.

"Only one on our behalf," he said. "I found a planet for the Barits and a way to disperse them."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"Here we are!" he said avoiding her question.

The field was just a farm field. A pilot came towards them from his parked plane.

"Isabelle, I'd like you to meet Lieutenant James Baker," the Doctor introduced.

"Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Baker," Isabelle said.

"Please, just James," he said with a small smile.

"Okay, James," she said shyly. Maybe the Doctor was right. All the men insisted that she call them by their first name.

"He knows," the Doctor said starting to walk towards the aeroplane.

"He knows what?" Isabelle tried to say. She and James walked together behind the Doctor.

"I know about the aliens aiding the Germans," James said.

"Oh, okay. What else do you know?"

"He knows I'm the Doctor and what needs to happen to stop the Barits," the Doctor said before James could answer.

"How do we stop them?" she inquired feeling left out of the loop.

"This needs to be dropped behind the German lines," the Doctor said holding up a chunk of metal and wires that he pulled from the back seat of the two seater.

"What is that?" Isabelle asked.

"This is a transmitter that relays a message to the Barits about the other planet," the Doctor told Isabelle. "It needs to be dropped out of the aeroplane in a specified location to maximise the signal to all the Barits."

"I'll do it," she said as she snatched the device from his hands. "What do I need to do with this thing?"

He looked at her sceptically but then explained the device to her. "There is a small switch, just here. Switch it on when James descends. Once the plane is low and level, he will give a thumbs up to signal you are over the target area. Drop it over the side of the plane and that should take care of it. The Barits will get the signal and hopefully be gone by tomorrow morning."

The Doctor addressed both James and Isabelle and said, "The Barits shoot at anything that is moving. Drop the transmitter and get out of there." They nodded. "Right. All set?" he asked Isabelle.

"I think so," she replied.

"I'll see you when you get back," he said. "Be careful." She nodded. Just before he walked off, she grabbed his arm. He turned towards just as she planted a small kiss on his cheek. She smiled and bit her bottom lip even though he showed no emotion. Then he walked off the runway to stand off to the side.

James helped her into the rear seat and handed her a leather aviator cap with goggles. Isabelle fitted the cap onto her head and pulled the goggles over her eyes. It helped a bit against the rain. The rest of her was already drenched. She set the transmitter in her lap cradling it in her skirts. James sat in the seat in front of her and started the engine. Isabelle took one last look at the Doctor. Red tinged her cheeks.

The plane started moving abruptly. As the plane left the ground, the rain stung her face. They banked to the right and Isabelle felt like she was going to fall out of her seat despite being belted into it. Eventually, James evened out the plane and she felt more secure.

About a half hour later, Isabelle felt the plane descending. James pointed down to indicate the descent. Taking the transmitter in her hands, she found the small switch the Doctor showed her earlier. Switching it on, a small red light shown brightly. She looked up to see the back of James' head, he had lowered himself more into the cockpit as laser like gun fire was being shot in their direction. James was a seasoned flyer and managed to avoid most of it. Some of the gunfire clipped the sides of the plane leaving burned slash marks. Looking over the side of the plane, she noticed they were just skimming the tops of the trees. Realizing she would need to stand up in her seat to lean over to drop the device, Isabelle unhooked her belt. She manoeuvred herself into position leaning precariously over the edge of the plane. The laser fire continued and Isabelle felt extremely exposed. James took a sharp bank to the right. She gripped the edge with one hand but nearly lost the transmitter trying to steady herself with the other. Finally, James levelled the plane again but the lasers were still firing. One of the blasts slashed her upper arm! Isabelle winced and fell back into her seat. The plane was steady and she saw the thumbs up signal. Frantically, she scrambled to her feet ignoring the pain in her arm and once again leaned over the side of the plane with the device. Feeling she was clear of hitting the side of the plane with the transmitter, she released it. It plummeted down and she quickly took her seat again strapping herself in. She banged on the body of the plane as James had told her to do when they were still on the runway. This signalled that all was clear and to head back. Not a second later he was pulling the plane up into the sky.

She gripped her wound as they flew back to the open field. Blood stained her hand and nurse's uniform. When they had landed, James helped her out of the plane and onto solid, although soggy, ground. She took the aviator cap and goggles off and looked into the distance.

The Doctor was still standing there with his hands in his pockets and she smiled. Isabelle ran over to him through the mud and the muck. As she stopped in front him she threw her arms around him and shouted over the rain, "I did it!"

"Yes, you did. Look!" he said pointing towards the sky. She turned to peer into the distance but realized she did not have to look so far as she saw what appeared to be reverse falling stars shooting up into the sky.

She turned back towards him grinning from ear to ear as he watched the spectacle. He turned his gaze on her still smiling that big beautiful smile. She looked down at her fidgeting hands. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her shoulders drawing her in closer. She winced but not enough for him to notice. Her arms absentmindedly wrapped around his waist. She pressed herself against him.

James came towards them and said, "I can't stay, but she was brilliant, Doctor. You take care of that lass. She's a keeper. Very brave, indeed." He waved to them and returned to him plane to fly back to England.

He squeezed her tighter with pride. She winced and cried out. He let go immediately.

"You're hurt!" he exclaimed as he looked at her arm and the blood on his hand.

"'Tis a mere flesh wound," she said.

"Come on. Let me get you back to the TARDIS. It's my turn to fix you," the Doctor said to her taking her hand into his.


	10. Isabelle

**Chapter 10 - Isabelle**

The TARDIS landed in its usual spot in Isabelle's back garden. There was now a permanent indentation of a square on her lawn from all the times the Doctor had come to take her away.

It was mid April, her time. The air was cooler but it was still raining. They had just left France on ninth of July in 1916. Isabelle and the Doctor ran from the blue box to her house laughing and still wearing their WWI garments.

"Care for a spot of tea and some dry clothes?" she asked the Doctor when they were inside her kitchen.

"That would be grand," he said as small pools of water collected at his feet on the linoleum.

Isabelle took the Doctor to the spare bedroom. She found some clothes of her late husband's in the wardrobe and laid them on the bed. The bed was a four poster with a patchwork quilt laid over the duvet. The walls were dark blue. The floor was wood with a burgundy oriental rug with a large flower motif in the centre. From a cupboard in the hall, she produced a white towel. When she re-entered the room, he had already taken his coat and tie off. He was unbuttoning khaki shirt. She stared as he removed it. Her cheeks flushed crimson. She looked down seeing the towel in her hands, she held it out to him as she cleared her throat.

"Towel to dry yourself. The clothes might be a bit big but the length should be okay," Isabelle said but her words were broken up.

"You look embarrassed to see me like this," he said blatantly as he took the towel from her. "Have you forgotten that you've seen me undressed before when you fixed my leg."

"Yeah, well, I was taking care _of_ you. Now, it's different. I care _for_ you," she said looking into his eyes. His eyebrows raised and she couldn't look at him anymore. "I'll be in my room if you need anything," she added quickly removing herself from his presence.

When she entered her room, she silently banged her head on the wall in embarrassment. She took off her wet clothes donning on a dressing gown and went into the bathroom for a shower. She had nearly forgotten about her arm when she felt the water sting the wound. The water was warm and inviting but she did not linger long. She was towelling herself off when there was a soft knock at the door. Quickly putting on her dressing gown, she opened the door. The Doctor stood there in a white t-shirt and clean khakis. He hadn't put on the jumper she provided.

"You need that arm bandaged," he offered. She nodded.

"I keep a medical kit in hall closet," she informed him. She left the door open as he went back into the hall.

The Doctor retrieved the kit from the same closet where she had gotten the towel for him. When he walked back into the bathroom, she was sitting on the toilet lid. She had taken her arm out of the dressing gown but made sure the rest of her was still covered up. Her modesty made him smirk. He set the kit on the edge of the sink and took out the antiseptic. Using a bit of cotton, he soaked it with the medicine.

"This might hurt a bit," he said with a smirk.

"I'm well aware," she returned. He dabbed at the wound. "Crikey, that does hurt," she said through clenched teeth.

"Ah, shoe is on the other foot," he mentioned.

"Ha, ha," she said sarcastically.

The Doctor took a swatch of gauze pressing it against the wound then wrapped a roll of bandage around her arm.

"There you are. You'll be as good as new in no time," he said.

"Thank you."

"I'll let you get dressed, alone," he said with a slight smile.

"Thank you," she repeated smiling in return. He left and closed the door quietly behind him.

When she emerged dressed, he was downstairs in the kitchen leaning against the counter with his hands in his pockets. He definitely looked different in the oversized Irish wool jumper and khaki trousers. The light colours washed out his complexion. Darker colours suited him much better. The tea kettle was just beginning to whistle. He poured the water into a tea pot. After a few minutes of silence, he poured the tea into two cups. Putting two lumps in his cup, he looked over at her with a questioning eye.

"Two please," she said.

He put three lumps into the cup. She smirked because she really did like three lumps of sugar. He handed her the cup and saucer. Taking it and grabbing the canister of biscuits, she went into the dining room. They sat facing each other for a moment sipping tea and eating biscuits. He leaned forward gripping his cup with both hands. His visage changed to one of seriousness and asked, "Why did you volunteer to go up in the aeroplane?"

"Because it had to be done, without hesitation, or the British would have lost the war and the human race would have been eliminated by aliens. It was for the good of the planet and the universe."

"That's what I do, all the time," he said. "Why didn't you let me?"

"You deserve a break every once in a while," she offered. His eyes fell from hers. She reached over to take one of his hands into hers. "You're not alone anymore. We can do this together. If I have to give up everything to do it, I will. I don't have anything left here anyway." He looked up.

"You would give up everything for me? For the rest of your life?"

"Yes."

"I can't let you do that." He pulled his hand out of hers gripping his cup again.

"Why not?"

"If something should happen to me, or . . . you would need somewhere to return to."

"The house is paid for. It can sit here for all I care. Maybe come back every once in a while to cut the lawn," she said with a bit of a laugh. "I can always find another job. Besides, you still have three more lifetimes to live. What could possibly happen to you before it happened to me?"

The Doctor looked contemplative for a moment staring at his hands around the cup. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then he lifted his eyes to hers once more.

"On one condition," he started.

"Yes?" she said as her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"I want to meet your parents," the Doctor said.

"My real parents? But I don't even know who they are," she said.

"No, your adoptive parents," he corrected.

"And they're dead," she reminded him. He glared at her with disbelief. "Oh, you mean go back in time to see them. I . . . I have no problem with that. Just, why?"

"I have my reasons," he said vaguely.

"And you're not going to tell me, are you?" she queried.

"Nope," he said with a smirk.

"Fine," she said but smiled. "I trust your reasons."

"I think I've just invited you to move in with me," the Doctor said with a smile. Isabelle started laughing.

"I think you did," she said smiling.

"So what are you going to pack?" he asked her then finished his tea in one swallow.

"Clothes, mostly. I don't need much from here. It's all just memories," she said with just a touch of sadness. "I'll be making new ones with you."

The Doctor smiled. Isabelle stood up taking hers and his cups into the kitchen.

"Go pack. I'll take care of this," he said from the kitchen doorway. She nodded as she set the teapot next to the sink. "Is a half hour enough time?"

"Sure," she said before she went upstairs.

Isabelle went to retrieve a black duffel bag from the spare room. She noticed the Doctor's wet uniform was laid across the desk chair. Taking out a hanger from the wardrobe, she hung up the clothes. She placed the hanger on a hook on the back of the door to allow the clothes to dry. Finding the duffel bag, she went into her room to start packing. She packed as much as she could in the bag before taking one more glance around her room standing in the doorway. A small smile etched across her lips as she closed the door. Then, she turned to go downstairs.

"Ready?" the Doctor said abruptly standing in front of her with a grin.

"Blimey, you scared me!" Isabelle exclaimed nearly jumping out of her skin. "Yeah, I'm ready."

They walked down the stairs and out the back door. It was still raining, pouring, in fact. Standing under the overhang they looked out to the TARDIS.

"Here, let me take that," the Doctor offered indicating her bag. She handed it over to him.

"This is it," she said in barely a whisper.

"Yup," he replied.

A smile grew from ear to ear on her face. The water poured off the overhang like a waterfall. "Geronimo!"

They ran across the garden towards the TARDIS giggling like two school children. Half way there, Isabelle stopped. Shock splashed her visage like ice water had been thrown on her. The Doctor had already made it to the TARDIS door and was unlocking it.

"I forgot something. I'll be right back," she said.

The Doctor stood in the doorway of the blue box out of the rain watching her turn around. Before she could take a step she froze in her steps as a green ray rained down on her. In a second, she vanished in a scream.

"Isabelle!" the Doctor shouted. He ran out to the spot where she once stood. Immediately, looking up into the raining sky, he squinted against the water droplets. No spaceship was in sight. Taking out his sonic screwdriver he scanned the area getting a reading on the alien residue, then rushed back into the TARDIS nearly tripping over Isabelle's duffel bag he dropped just inside. He thrust the screwdriver into a port on the console and stopped in front of the view screen. The alien race that produced the beam popped onto the screen. It read Dwa Gela Kind. All at once, the Doctor set the coordinates for the planet of Drolth.


End file.
